Mica and The New Normal
by My Whole Life Is Thunder
Summary: Part three of the Mica series. A year has past since the shooting that killed Tony and paralyzed Kristen. Mica and Kristen adapt to their parents upcoming nuptials, Erica deals with the pros and cons of popularity, Olivia's family grows, and Shane discovers a family secret that links him and Mica in a surprising way.
1. Chapter 1

Nine year old Mica Gibbs ran her hands through her shoulder length red hair. Her dad was away on business and she was staying with his girlfriend Abby Borin and her half-sister Kristen. She missed her dad even though he had only been gone a day and a half and would be back in two more. Any time he went away she worried that he would never come back. Even though he always did but last year he almost didn't come back. Her brother Tony had died just over a year before and her dad had gone into a deep depression in the weeks following his death. She was eternally grateful to her grandpa Ducky for finding him and saving his life. Because she didn't think that she could have survived the past year without him. Tony died in a school shooting of which her and Kristen were the targets. She survived with only a scar on her arm but Kristen was left paralyzed from the hips down and the past year had been tough on her.

* * *

Mica's year had not been near as rough as Kristen's but it was still a year of change. For starters her dad had started dating again. For the first time since her mother died when she was four. She had always wished that her dad would date again and give her a step-mom but was glad that he had waited for the right woman. She just prayed that nothing bad would happen to Abby Borin. Her mom had died but so had her dad's first wife Shannon along with her older sister Kelly. Her dad wasn't the only one dating though. Because shortly after she got back to DC. Her friend Shane asked her to be his girlfriend. She happily agreed but her dad insisted that they were just friends.

"Hey Mica" Kristen greeted rolling into her room.

"Hi Kristen how was therapy?" Mica asked.

"It was good but tiring." Kristen replied.

"My dad called while you were gone." Mica replied.

"Oh how is he?" Kristen asked.

"Really good, he is going to be home on Wednesday." Mica replied.

"Just in time for Thanksgiving." Kristen smiled.

"Your favorite holiday." Mica replied smiling.

"Well yeah I mean we get all kinds of great foods and mom is going to teach me how to make her famous pumpkin pie." Kristen smiled.

"That was so good. I wish that my dad wasn't allergic." Mica replied.

"Pumpkin is a really weird allergy are you sure he just doesn't like it?" Kristen asked.

"He had to go to the hospital." Mica replied.

"Oh well that sucks." Kristen replied.

"Kristen Kelly Borin do not use the word sucks." Abby Borin warned.

"Sorry mom" Kristen apologized.

"Just don't let it happen again. Oh Mica I got the stuff to make that chocolate pie your dad likes so much." Abby Borin explained.

"He gave you my grandma's recipe?" Mica gasped.

"No I found it in his box down in your basement." Abby Borin replied.

"Nice" Mica replied.

* * *

Erica cheered as her brother made his way towards the net. He had recently been selected to join the travel soccer league. She wasn't happy about him being gone almost every weekend and having extra practices at dinner time but she was proud of him for making such an amazing accomplishment. He had, had a rough time since their mom had died the year before and really needed a boost. Especially since their dad had started dating Abby Scuito from his work. Kayla and her loved Abby but Jared wasn't so sure about her.

"Oh My Gosh! Erica Vance!" Lucile Lawson (one of the most popular girls in school) cried.

"Oh hi Lucile" Erica replied.

"Who do you know on the Lightning Bolts?" Lucile asked.

"My brother Jared." Erica replied.

"OMG! My brother and sister both play for them! That is so amazing!" Lucile cried.

"That's cool" Erica replied.

"We should totally hang out sometime!" Lucile cried.

"Yeah we should." Erica replied completely shocked that a popular kid wanted to hangout with her

* * *

.

Olivia Palmer pulled her younger brother's hand away from the steaming hot plate. Her adoptive parents Jimmy and Breena were laughing at some inside joke. A couple came in and sat down at the table next to theirs carrying a baby who was about three or four months old. She noticed Breena get a sad look on her face and Jimmy quickly said something to distract her. Just over a year ago Breena had announced her pregnancy but shortly after it was revealed to be a false positive. Everybody was devastated and only took solace in Olivia and her younger brother Cody whom they had adopted the year before. Olivia was thrilled with her new life. Especially since they had found her younger brother alive. She wanted a new baby as she missed having a big family but was happy just to have her baby brother.

"Livy! Want nuggets!" Cody cried.

"They have to cool, Cody." Olivia explained.

"OK" Cody sighed.

"Here try some celery." Olivia replied handing Cody a peeled celery stick.

"OK" Cody sighed.

* * *

Shane rolled over on the couch. He was so bored and wished that Tara would get sick of watching Glee on Netflix already and let him pick something to watch. They were both home sick and Tara had been watching it all day.

"Can we please watch something else?!" Shane pleaded as the final credits rolled.

"No! The Quarterback is up next." Tara replied.

"Ugh! I hate that one." Shane groaned.

"Have some respect Shane. Corey died in real life. How could you be so cold?" Tara asked.

"Because you get so annoying and weepy!" Shane replied.

"You are rude Shane. R.U.D.E!" Tara snapped.

"Fine but after that I am watching Archer." Shane replied.

"No you are not! That show is not appropriate!" Debbie warned coming into the living room.

"Fine! I am going to bed." Shane sighed.

"It's eight thirty" Debbie reminded.

"I know" Shane scoffed.

* * *

 **A/N: How will the group take on their new challenges? New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.**


	2. Changes Of Life

It was the day before Thanksgiving and Gibbs was due to be home anytime. After being away from her dad for almost a week. Mica was going crazy to see him again. Most nine year olds would kill for a couple days away from their parents but after all the losses she had endured. Mica was the opposite. While she didn't have to be around him all the time. She preferred that he be home with her. Abby Borin had been a great hostess and care taker to her the past few days but she was not her mom. She was her dad's girlfriend and the mom of her best friend. One of them anyway.

"Mica!" Abby Borin called.

"What?" Mica asked.

"Your dad called. He is at the airport. He had a safe trip and he will be home as soon as he debreifes with Director Vance." Abby Borin explained.

"How long does he think that will take?" Mica asked.

"Should be a couple of hours." Abby Borin replied.

"OK, do you need any help in the meantime?" Mica asked.

"No I am OK but go and see if Kristen needs help with her history report. As I understand you turned it in early and got an A+." Abby Borin suggested.

"Yeah sure" Mica replied.

* * *

Kristen wheeled herself from her bed to her desk. Her room was pretty small so she could just wheel back one time and then turn around in the open space. They were just renting the place for now but when her mom managed to find a house that was handicap accessible. Gibbs had built some furniture that would make getting around her room easier for her. She liked Gibbs pretty well. Even though she wished that her mom had not moved on so fast after her step-dad died. Then again Gibbs was her real dad. So maybe she wasn't moving on too fast. Truth is she would be happy if her mom married Gibbs. Anyone else would probably treat her differently because she was in a wheelchair. Delilah said that, that was normal and most people weren't being mean. They just didn't know how to treat somebody who was handicapped. That may be true but she hated it. She just wanted to be treated the same as she had been before the shooting.

"Kristen?" Mica asked.

"What?" Kristen asked.

"Do you need help with your report?" Mica asked.

"No! Why would I need help?!" Kristen demanded.

"Because it was a hard report and I thought you might need a little help." Mica explained.

"Would you ask Erica, Olivia, Shane, or one of your other able bodied friends that?!" Kristen spat.

"Well yeah if I thought they needed help." Mica replied/

"Yeah right" Kristen replied, rolling her eyes.

"Are you OK?" Mica asked.

"Yeah why?" Kristen asked.

"Cause you just snapped at me." Mica replied.

"I don't know Mica. See it from my perspective." Kristen replied.

"Uh Okaay" Mica replied.

* * *

Erica rested her head on her desk. She was no where near done with her history report and it was due Monday. Granted she had almost a week left to complete it but her family was leaving for Chicago to go and visit her mom's dad later that evening. She hated history, she hated school in general. She had been a better student since her mom died but she was never be on honor roll. Her cellphone buzzed and she reached over and picked it up.

"Heelllooooooooo"

"Uh hello? Who is this?"

"It's Lucile, silly!"

"Oh well uh this is Erica Vance. Are you sure that you have a right number?"

"Of course I want to talk to you Errriiccaaa!"

"Oh OK, what's up?"

"Do you want to hang out this weekend?"

"I am going to Chicago tonight and won't be back until Sunday."

"OMG Chicago? Who do you know in Chicago?"

"My parents have family there."

"Oh fun! Tell me all about it at recess on Monday."

"Uh I was going to hangout with Mica, Shane, and Olivia. Kristen too if she doesn't have her special gym class that day."

"Oh they won't miss you!"

"Yeah I will think about it."

"Nooo just dooo iiiittttttt!"

"Yeah I guess."

"Great! You won't regret it!"

* * *

Breena had taken Cody to the grocery store to do some last minute shopping. Leaving Olivia and Jimmy alone. Olivia was disappointed that she had been left behind but Breena wasn't feeling well and didn't want to have to keep and eye on a nine year old. In the middle of a crowded store. At least Cody could still fit in the little seat in the front of the cart.

"Hey Livy want to watch a movie or something?" Jimmy asked.

"What movie?" Olivia asked.

"Role Models?" Jimmy suggested.

"Isn't that rated, R?" Olivia asked.

"I won't tell if you don't." Jimmy replied.

"Alright then" Olivia agreed.

* * *

Jimmy and Olivia ended up watching four R rated movies; Role Models, The Hangover, Wet Hot American Summer, and Vacation. By the end of Vacation not only were Breena and Cody still not back yet but Jimmy had also fallen asleep on the couch. Olivia was wide awake, sitting on the couch. Tired of watching movies and very worried. Breena had been gone almost eight hours. Even with the store being crowded, and Breena being notorious for taking forever at the grocery store. This was a concerning amount of time. Jimmy's phone rang but he didn't wake up, so Olivia reached over and answered.

"Hello?"

"Yes she is my mom."

"No he's asleep. I will wake him up."

"Thank you."

"JIMMY!" Olivia cried.

"What is it, Livy?" Jimmy asked groggily.

"Breena is in the hospital!" Olivia cried.

"Give me the phone." Jimmy gasped.

* * *

 **A/N: What is going on wth Breena? New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.**


	3. Good News

Fear surged through Olivia's body. Jimmy was beside her talking into his cellphone in hushed whispers. All the person on the phone had told her was that Breena was in the hospital. She considered leaning closer so she could make out what Jimmy was saying but knew that if she did that he would get up and go into the other room. After what felt like forever, Jimmy hung up and shakily forced his phone into his jeans pocket.

"Come on Livy, let's go." Jimmy said, standing up.

"What's going on? Is Breena OK?" Olivia asked.

"She wasn't feeling well at the grocery store. So she went home with a friend. She was really dizzy and Cody was ready for his nap. So her friend just let them nap at her place. A few hours later Breena woke up still feeling really bad. So her friend took her to the ER. By the time she arrived she was vomiting and had high blood pressure. They admitted her for further testing." Jimmy explained.

"Where is she?" Olivia asked.

"Monroe" Jimmy replied.

"What about Cody?" Olivia asked.

"He is with Breena's friend." Jimmy replied.

"And he's OK?" Olivia asked.

"He is just fine. Now let's go." Jimmy replied.

* * *

Mica stood behind Kristen's wheelchair. Her dad and Abby Borin had allowed the girls to eat dinner in the living room, in front of the TV. So that the two adults could eat a romantic dinner in the kitchen, Mica was fairly disappointed that she didn't get to eat with her dad on his first night back in town but at the same time, she loved being able to eat in front of the TV. That privilege was almost unheard of in the Gibbs household and when they did, it was always the Western Channel. Just as the girls were about to sneak into the kitchen to beg for desert a loud scream came from the kitchen.

"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! JETHRO!"

"That's my mom." Kristen gasped.

"Let's see if she is OK." Mica replied.

* * *

Mica had never seen Kristen move her chair so fast. Of course she could not remember the time she ran so fast. At least not when she wasn't on the playground trying to out do the boys. They girls flung the door open and ran into the kitchen. Abby Borin was jumping up and now and Gibbs was standing in front of her with a huge smile on his face.

"What's going on?" Mica asked.

"Yeah are you OK?" Kristen added.

"I am just fine" Abby B. assured.

"Girls we have excellent news for you." Gibbs replied.

"What! What!" Kristen asked.

"We are engaged!" Abby B. cried.

"Really?" Mica gasped.

"That's great" Kristen added.

"Yes, I bought the ring on my trip and that is why I wanted to have dinner just the two of us." Gibbs explained.

"I am so happy!" Mica cried.

"Yeah it's great." Kristen asked.

* * *

Olivia paced back and forth in the hospital waiting room. Jimmy had gone back to talk to the doctors about Breena but kids were not allowed in the offices. She wondered what would happen to Cody and her if Breena died. Would Jimmy keep them or would they be forced into foster-care? She didn't think that she could handle losing another family. At long last the double doors opened and Jimmy stepped into the living room, followed by Breena! She was in a wheelchair but she was alive.

"Breena! Are you alright?" Olivia asked.

"I am just fine." Breena replied.

"What's going on? You were really sick?" Olivia asked.

"I am pregnant." Breena replied.

"Are you sure?" Olivia asked.

"Yes, we got an ultrasound and everything." Jimmy replied.

"I have high blood pressure. So I am going to have to be on bed-rest for a while but it will be OK. I am about seven weeks in." Breena explained.

"That's great! I am so happy for you guys!" Olivia cried.

* * *

Kristen wanted to be happy for her mom. She really did but she still wasn't sure if she wasn't moving too fast with Gibbs. The last thing Kristen wanted was for her mom to get hurt and Jethro and her had only just reconnected last year. Sure they had endured a lot together but Kristen had endured enough upheaval, change, and hurt in the past couple of years. The last thing she wanted was for the relationship to end in an ugly breakup and her mom and her to be hurt. Especially since she was one of Mica's best friends. Still she had to pretend to excited; for her mom, and soon to be step-dad and sister.

"Pretty exciting, huh?" Mica asked.

"What?" Kristen asked.

"Our parents getting engaged! We are going to be sisters!" Mica cried.

"Oh yeah that is great." Kristen replied.

"You don't seem very enthusiastic." Mica commented.

"I just don't want my mom to get hurt." Kristen explained.

"Why would your mom get hurt?" Mica asked.

"Because she is moving too fast." Kristen replied/

"They have been dating a year. It will be fine." Mica assured.

"But Mica, he abandoned me." Kristen explained.

"He didn't know about you! His mom never told him!" Mica snapped.

"Well clearly he can't be trusted!" Kristen snapped.

"Don't you ever say that again!" Mica snapped.

"Mica it's time to go!" Gibbs called from downstairs.

"I have to go but this is not over." Mica said glaring at Kristen.

"Get out! Get out you jerk!" Kristen yelled.

"I'm the jerk?! You insulted my father!" Mica snapped.

"Michaela Ann Gibbs! Get down here right now!" Gibbs barked.

"Coming!" Mica cried tears falling from her face.

* * *

Erica shoved her hands in her jacket pocket and pretended to watch "Paul Blart 2". She didn't know why she made her dad pay for the headphones. Plane movies were always terrible. Jared and Kayla were smart enough to opt out of the headphones and were now doing their homework. High schoolers had so much homework. If it wouldn't infuriate her dad, she would slip off the headphones and just sit back and think. She had a lot on her mind. She could not believe that Lucile had invited, her to join her group. She had always secretly wanted to be popular. Her mom had been one of the cool kids but Jared and Kayla never were. So if she became cool, she would finally be like her mom in one special way. Kayla was just like her strong and independent and Jared was creative and artistic but Erica was never like her past being a girl.

"I am going to be popular." Erica whispered to herself.

* * *

Shane sat on the picnic table in his backyard. His sister was driving him crazy and his mom had gone out with some friends. Even if she was home she would have taken Tara's side. She always took Tara's side in everything. "Just because she's a girl" Shane thought bitterly. He missed his dad so much. His dad actually understood him but nobody else in his family did.

* * *

 **A/N: Good news for Olivia and Mica and Kristen. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.**


	4. Make New Friends

Monday morning came and Mica could not wait to tell her friends the big news. She could not believe that her dad was getting remarried. He had sworn that he would never remarry after her mom died. He said that his heart had been broken far too many times. Now he was going to marry Abby Borin and they were finally going to be a family again. They had been a family all along but soon it would be official on paper. She could not wait to attend the marriage ceremony and see the license. Maybe Abby Borin would adopt her. Her dad was going to formerly adopt Kristen, because Abby Borin had put her deceased husband's name on the birth certificate. Mica hoped that she would be included in the wedding. She had always wanted to be a flower girl but never had the opportunity. Now seemed to be the perfect one.

"Mica! I am giving you thirty seconds to get down here before I put your breakfast in the fridge and you get an Instant Breakfast in the van!" Gibbs called.

"I'm here!" Mica called.

"What took you so long?" Gibbs asked.

"I was just daydreaming." Mica replied.

"Well don't do it in school. I would hate for you to get in trouble your first day back." Gibbs replied.

"Don't worry dad." Mica assured.

"Before you go, I need to talk to you about the wedding." Gibbs replied.

"Am I going to be the flower girl?" Mica asked.

"No, Abby is going to ask her cousin to do it but I am sure she will put you in somehow. Look, I know that you are excited but Abby Borin wants to wait until next week. To start telling people." Gibbs explained.

"Why?" Mica asked.

"It's right around her anniversary and she doesn't feel right." Gibbs explained.

"OK" Mica sighed.

"Hey it's only a week." Gibbs reminded.

"I know but I am so excited." Mica whined.

"I am too it's been a long time." Gibbs replied.

"Well I hope that you are happy." Mica replied.

"Trust me Mica, we will be. I would not let myself fall for something that is not real. Not when I have children." Gibbs explained.

"Well I know that I will be happy. Kristen is the best sister ever!" Mica cried.

"She is a great kid. Now come on we have to get going." Gibbs replied.

* * *

As if things weren't bad enough for Kristen. Her mom had gotten a call from the school saying that the handicapped bus had broken down. A replacement would be sent but it would be almost an hour late. Since they would be using the middle school's bus. Unfortunately for Kristen, her mom had a meeting and could not sit around waiting for the late bus. Kristen had hoped that meant that she would get to skip school and hangout around her mom's office but no. Her mom decided just to drive her in, instead. Couldn't her mom see that she was in the fourth grade? It was totally humiliating to get driven to school in the fourth grade. Only little kindergartners got dropped off by their parents.

"Remember not to tell anybody about the wedding." Abby B. reminded.

"Don't worry it won't be a problem." Kristen assured.

"Aren't you excited?" Abby B. asked.

"I just don't see why you have to get married." Kristen commented.

"Oh you are one of those girls. I guess it's a generational thing. I am in love with Jethro and in his generation. You got married when you were in love but if that is not for you. That is just fine but I actually want to get married." Abby Borin explained.

"It's not a feminism thing. I just don't get why you guys are getting married. You are old and have been married before." Kristen clarified.

"We are not that old." Abby B. said.

"Fine do what you want! I don't care! Just don't get divorced! He divorces everyone." Kristen explained.

"Don't worry about it. Just have faith." Abby B. replied.

* * *

Lunch came and with it came an uneasy feeling for Erica. She was excited to hangout with her new friends but worried about what her old one's would think. Than again the song did say to make new friends but keep the old. She could still be friend's with Mica and them. Her dad was always with Mr. Gibbs and Shane and Olivia were with Gibbs a lot. She could still hangout with the others. Lucile and a few of the other cool kids lived in her gated community as well. It would be nice to spend have friends in her neighborhood again. She exited the lunch line carrying her tray and walked into the main cafeteria.

"Erica I saved you a seat!" Mica called.

"Oh I was going to sit with some new friends today." Erica explained.

"Oh that's OK. I will see you later." Mica replied.

"Eriiccaaaaa! Over heeerree!" Lucile called.

"You are hanging out with Lucile and them?" Mica asked.

"Yeah, she was at Jared's soccer game and she invited me to hangout." Erica explained.

"Oh well have fun with your new friends." Mica replied.

"Errriccccccaaa!" Lucile cried.

* * *

Erica took one last look at her friends before walking over to the popular table. Something washed over her as she set her tray down. She had arrived. She was one of the cool kids. At least she hoped that she was.

"So Erica, you know me Lucile Alicia Montclaire. Well this is Pamela, Courtney, and Albania." Lucile introduced.

"Isn't the the name of a country?" Erica asked.

"Yes but that's not important. Anyway this week is a probationary period. If we like you than you can officially join the group but be warned. If you are caught with the freak show. You will be removed from consideration." Albania explained.

"Freak show?" Erica asked.

"You know Little Orphan Ugly, The Cripple, and The Walking Dead. Shane is OK. In fact you can try to get him to join our group." Pamela explained.

"Why is Mica called the Walking Dead?" Erica asked.

"Because she is going to get murdered just like her sister. Because her daddy killed a drug-dealer." Courtney explained.

* * *

 **A/N: Erica's new friends will cause a lot of problems. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.**


	5. The Afternoon

Mica rolled over on her bed, she was bored out of her mind. She had already finished her homework, exceeded her free laptop time by fifteen minutes, and to make things worse none of her friends could come over. Shane had a doctor's appointment, Kristen wasn't feeling well, Olivia had to help Jimmy out, and Erica was hanging out with her new friends. She hoped that today was one of the days that her dad was able to come home from work on time. If not a little early. She thought about working on her Christmas list but her dad had told her to keep the list small this year. Since he would be shopping for Abby and Kristen too and fiances were already tight since he had been helping Abby B. with Kristen's care. So she had to be sure she really, really wanted what she asked for. She wasn't particularly greedy but she didn't want to make the list too soon and miss out on getting what she really, truly wanted. She walked over to her bookshelf and picked up her journal. It had been forever since she had written in there. She flipped through the book until she found the last page she had written on. What she saw, caused her to catch her breath...

" _Today was hands down one of the worst days of my life. Maybe even worse than the day that Gracie died. There was a shooting at my boarding school. I got grazed on the arm and am going to be OK but Kristen and Tony didn't get so lucky. Kristen got shot in the back. She is hurt really bad and I do not know if she will be OK or not. I am so scared. I do not know what I will do if I lose her. I already lost. So many... Tony got shot in the back of the head. He died in surgery. My dad is devastated. He won't get out of bed. I had to go back to DC with McGee and Bishop..._

* * *

Mica could not believe that it had been over a year since she had last written in her journal. Not since the day that Tony died. She recalled sitting down to write several times in the days since Tony died but she could never will herself to write anything. Eventually she just fell out of the habit. Maybe it was time to start writing again. Her life had finally begun to turn around. Two thousand fourteen had been a year of loss and grief but so far two thousand and fifteen had been much better and two thousand sixteen promised to be even better. Because that was the year that her dad would get married and the year that the Palmer's baby would finally be born. The old year still had a few weeks left in it but still she could not help but look forward to the new one.

* * *

Kristen pulled herself on to her bed and slammed her face on to her pillow. She was so freaking frustrated. She had started feeling really bad after school and now her mom was insisting that she go to the doctor. Apparently paraplegics were really susceptible to pneumonia. Which meant that anytime she sneezed, her mom freaked out.

"Kristen! Let's go! Dr. Morris is squeezing us in but we have to hurry!" Abby B. called.

"Ugh!" Kristen groaned.

"What's wrong? Can you not lift yourself into your chair? Do you need my help?" Abby B. asked.

"No! I just don't want to go!" Kristen snapped.

"Kris, I am sorry but you have to go. I cannot afford to take any risks." Abby B. explained.

"It's not even a cold! I have no need to go to the doctor!" Kristen snapped.

"What's wrong?" Abby B. asked.

"I think I am going to start." Kristen whispered.

"Start, what?" Abby B. asked.

"My period, I heard some fifth grade girls talk about the period video. They talked about the symptoms and stuff and that is how I feel." Kristen explained.

"Well you are almost ten but I don't know." Abby B. explained.

"Well I have cramps" Kristen replied.

"Oh honey you are warm." Abby B. commented.

"I have to go to the doctor?" Kristen asked.

"No, we are not going to Dr. Morris. We are going to the ER. I think that you have appendicitis. Thank God you still have feeling in your abdomen." Abby B. explained scooping, Kristen up.

* * *

Olivia rubbed her forehead with her thumbs. She had two tests the next day and a report due. She had been trying to study all afternoon but stuff kept happening. Breena was still having issues with her blood pressure and had to be on bed-rest at least until it went down. Maybe the duration of the pregnancy. With Breena out of commission, she had to step up to help Jimmy around the house and with Cody but she didn't mind. She loved Breena and would do anything to make sure she had a healthy pregnancy but it was frustrating to have to give up so much of her free time.

"Olivia?" Jimmy asked.

"What do you need now?" Olivia asked.

"Nothing uh I have a meeting with Director Vance tomorrow. So I am going to be a little late but Ducky is going to stay with you guys." Jimmy explained.

"Why Ducky? Can't Julie or Mark stay with us?" Olivia asked.

"I would just feel more comfortable with Ducky should something arise with Breena. Julie and Mark are just teenagers and Ducky is a doctor." Jimmy explained,.

"OK" Olivia sighed.

* * *

Shane prayed that his friends would never find out where he had been that afternoon. He had told Mica and everybody that he was going to a doctor's appointment and that was kind of true but it wasn't a regular doctor. It was a psychologist. His mom had decided that his recent behavior was a sign that something was wrong with him. He wasn't a bad kid. He was just frustrated and he told her that but he couldn't tell her why he was frustrated. So she made him see a child psychologist. If you asked him Tara was the one who should have to see a therapist. She was the one who had, had like fifteen boyfriends in the past year and watched the same sappy teen dramas all day. Sometimes he was convinced that his mom liked Tara more than him. At least he had Mica and his other friends. Because if he didn't. He would probably lose his mind.

* * *

Erica could not believe it, she had officially been accepted into the popular crowd. She was to meet them on the playground near the soccer field while Jared played his game. For her initiation. She could not wait. She told her dad that she was going to go play on the playground. After assuring that she would be careful and borrowing Kayla's cellphone. She ran down to the playground and met her new friends.

"Finally" Albania commented.

"Are you ready?" Lucile asked.

"Yes" Erica replied.

"OK come here." Courtney instructed.

"Place your hands on this Twilight book and repeat after us." Pamela instructed.

"Aren't you supposed to swear on the Bible?" Erica asked.

"Um I am Jewish, so is Lucile and Pamela is Mormon." Albania commented.

"OK" Erica replied skeptically.

"Anyway repeat after me. I Erica Vance" Lucile started.

"I Erica Vance" Erica started.

"Promise to never associate with losers, always put the squad ahead of anything and anyone else and to come running whenever they call." Lucile led.

"Promise to never associate with losers, always put the squad ahead of anything and anyone else and to come running whenever they call." Erica repeated.

"Promise to do whatever I am instructed. No matter the consequence" Lucile led.

"Promise to do whatever I am instructed. No matter the consequence" Erica repeated.

"Or else" Lucile led.

"Or else" Erica repeated.

"OK you are almost in." Pamela said.

"What do you mean almost?" Erica asked.

"You have to complete your first dare before you are welcomed into the squad officially." Courtney explained.

"OK, what's the dare?" Erica asked.

"You have to make that Olivia kid think that her mom lost her baby." Lucile explained.

"Isn't that a little extreme?" Erica asked.

"Do you want in the group or not?" Lucile asked.

"Well yeah" Erica replied.

"Then do it!" Lucile ordered.

"OK" Erica replied skeptically,

* * *

 **A/N: Hopefully Kristen will be OK and Erica will wise up soon. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.**


	6. Sick Days

Mica woke up Tuesday morning feeling terrible. A bad flu bug had been going around recently. It was so bad that Director Vance had to make three Probies field agents. Just to keep NCIS afloat. Unfortunately the nickname "The Probie Killer", had landed her dad in as he called it "Paperwork Hell".

"Mica get up! It's getting late! Not that I would be devastated if I had to drive you! I would actually love to be late! But you can't afford to be! I cannot believe Leon! Yeah I went through twenty-two Probies last year and yeah four of them quit the agency all together and one guys was admitted to the psych ward but that is no reason to ban me from having Probies! I had just lost Tony for Pete's Sake! God I hate paperwork so much! I hate it!" Gibbs ranted.

"Don't wanna go to school." Mica croaked.

"What are they making you do stupid tasks too? Because do as I say. Not as I do." Gibbs questioned.

"I don't feel good." Mica whispered.

"Oh Mica I am so sorry. I have just been so frustrated but I shouldn't take it out on you. Especially if you are sick." Gibbs apologized.

"It's OK" Mica assured.

"No it's not, you are burning up. Kristen is in the hospital with appendicitis. I better get you checked out." Gibbs explained.

"Kris is in the hospital? Why aren't you with her? Is she OK?" Mica asked.

"She is just fine. She had surgery late last night. I went was with Abby Borin at the hospital and Ducky stayed with you. She is sleeping right now and her mom is with her." Gibbs explained.

"Are you going to see her?" Mica asked.

"If you aren't contagious I am going back later." Gibbs explained.

"And she's OK?" Mica asked.

"She is just fine, the surgery was a success and she is going to come home tomorrow as long as she doesn't have any complications." Gibbs explained.

"Good" Mica replied.

* * *

Kristen nibbled halfheartedly on the jello she had been served at the hospital. Her brain wanted real food but her stomach could barely handle the jello she had been given. She had gotten lucky in the sense that her mom had gotten her to the hospital and she had gotten into surgery before her appendix burst. Meaning that she could go home sooner and her recovery would be faster and easier. Something she was grateful for. After the shooting, she hated being away from home or anything that was different. She just wanted to maintain normalcy. She was hoping that her friends would come by. They made life far more exciting. Ducky and McGee had come by but they were so boring. They were nice enough but they were boring adults. She wanted to hangout with other kids. There were other children in the ward but most of them were sicker than she was and the playroom was more for little kids anyway.

"How are you feeling?" Abby B. asked entering the room.

"OK, when do I get to go home?" Kristen asked.

"Maybe this afternoon, maybe tomorrow." Abby B. replied.

"Is anybody else going to come see me?" Kristen asked.

"Jimmy said he would bring Olivia by after school and Leon said the same thing about Erica. I cannot get a hold of Debbie but I think I have an old number of hers. I will ask somebody later." Abby B. explained.

"What about Mica?" Kristen asked.

"Mica has strep throat. So she will not be coming and Jethro is going to talk to Ducky before he comes in." Abby B. explained.

"Of course she gets sick now." Kristen sighed.

"She couldn't help it Kristen." Abby B. reminded.

"Yeah right" Kristen sighed.

* * *

Olivia sat alone on the playground. Both Kristen and Mica were really sick, Erica was hanging out with her new friends and Shane was off somewhere being Shane. He only got excited to hangout with the group if Mica were around. It got annoying but then again he was a boy. So she would take getting the cold shoulder over getting a bug put in her hair any day. She focused her eyes on the cool kids favorite place to hangout and studied Erica. Part of her wished that she had been selected to be in the popular crowd. Even if she did not agree with their principles. It would still be nice to be asked. She perked up when she saw that Erica was coming towards her. Could this be her chance?

"Hi Olivia!" Erica greeted.

"Oh hi Erica. How are you?" Olivia greeted.

"Better than you." Erica replied.

"Why's that? I am fine." Olivia questioned.

"Didn't you hear?" Erica asked.

"Hear what?" Olivia questioned.

"Breena had a miscarriage." Erica replied.

"What?!" Olivia gasped.

"It means that your baby is dead!" Erica spat.

"I know... I just... no... no" Olivia sobbed.

* * *

When Erica agreed to tell Olivia that Breena had lost the baby. She was not expecting her to get so upset. She certainly did not expect her to become so hysterical that Jimmy had to call Ducky away from work. So that he could stay with Breena. So that he could come and get her. The good news was that she managed to convince Mrs. Tucker that she did not know what had happened. She did feel a little bad but mostly she was happy to for once not be the butt of the jokes. Just because she was not as smart or tall as her friends and siblings and because she was chubbier than most of the kids her class.

"Good job Erica! You are officially part of the group!" Lucile cried.

"Yes! Was sure that you could not do it but you did!" Pamela added.

"You are finally somebody." Courtney added.

"Welcome to the group but do not screw it up." Albania finished.

"I will not! I am so happy that I passed my test! I am part of the group!" Erica cried.

* * *

Shane knew that it was going to be a bad day, when both Mica and Kristen were out sick. Things got worse when he realized that he had forgotten his homework and had to go to "Study Hall" in the library instead of recess. Study Hall was basically just detention without discipline slips but he was sure that his mom would find out. Tara's friend Alyssa's big sister Brenda was a library aide during the afternoon and well things tended to spread. He didn't know what happened at recess but when he passed the nurses office. He saw Olivia lying on the bed sobbing uncontrollably. He started to turn in to see what was going on but quickly changed his mind. The tardy bell was about to ring and he could not afford to risk getting a real detention.

"Shane?" Mrs. Tucker called.

"What?" Shane sighed.

"Can you give Kristen Borin her homework? Olivia and Mica are sick and Erica is not going to go see her. If not I can drop it off at the hospital myself." Mrs. Tucker asked.

"No that's fine." Shane replied.

"Oh yeah don't forget the family tree project is due next week." Mrs. Tucker reminded.

"Oh no" Shane sighed.

"What?" Mrs. Tucker questioned.

"I forgot about that." Shane sighed.

"Well you best get to work on it. Because every day it is late is ten points off and this is a quarter of your semester grade and you cannot afford to let your grade suffer anymore.." Mrs. Tucker reminded.

"I know" Shane sighed.

* * *

 **A/N: Looks like there is a lot of sickness and suffering in the group right now. As for Shane, his family tree project will reveal a shocking connection to Mica. Please review and thanks for reading.**


	7. Truths Come Out

Mica's official diagnosis was strep throat and a minor case of pneumonia. The good news was that her pneumonia was not severe enough for her to require medication. At least not yet. Just bed-rest and plenty of fluids. The bad news was that she felt completely terrible. Her dad had set up a TV in her room but she felt to bad to even lie in bed and watch TV. The last time she was this sick her mother was still alive. So she couldn't have been more than three but she remembered her dad was out of town that week. She could still recall her mom rocking her in her arm, while Ducky gave her a check-up. She remembered wearily grabbing her mom's red hair and burying her face in her chest. She heard footsteps and sat up just in time to see her dad stepping into her room.

"How are you feeling?" Gibbs asked.

"Terrible" Mica replied.

"I am sorry, do you feel like eating?" Gibbs asked.

"No" Mica replied.

"OK but I am going to bring you some juice. You need to drink." Gibbs replied.

"I don't feel like it." Mica groaned.

"Well if you don't drink, I am going to have to take you to the hospital for an IV." Gibbs explained.

"Fine, I'll drink." Mica sighed.

"Good, I will be right back. I am taking a few days off of work to stay with you but Abby Scuito is going to stay with you tomorrow while I go and see Kristen." Gibbs explained.

"Kristen, is she mad at me for not being with her?" Mica asked.

"I am sure she understands, now go get some rest." Gibbs replied.

"I need it." Mica agreed.

* * *

Erica lay on her bed, she was starving but her dad was working late and her nanny was with Kayla at a meeting for the upcoming chorus trip. Leaving Jared in charge. As much as Erica loved her brother, he was terrible cook. He couldn't even heat up leftovers. She hoped that her dad would be home soon or that he would at least order a pizza to the house. She heard car pull into the driveway and moments later the front door opened. She wasn't sure if it was her dad or Kayla and the nanny but she hoped that whoever it was. They had brought food with them.

"Erica! Can you come out here for a minute?" Vance called.

"Coming daddy!" Erica called back.

* * *

Erica walked into the kitchen and was relieved to see her dad, dishing out Chinese food from Hong Palace. Her absolute favorite carryout place in the world. There was a small pizza from Ramano's set on the table for Jared who had a minor peanut allergy.

"You called me?" Erica commented, hoping that her dad was calling her to give her the little Chinese doughnut things that came with the family special.

"Yes, I was hoping that you could help me with something." Vance replied.

"Oh yeah of course. What is it?" Erica asked disappointingly.

"I went by the hospital to visit Kristen this evening and while I was there. I ran into Jimmy Palmer. Anyway he said that Olivia came home from school today crying. Would you know anything about that?" Vance asked.

"No, we were at recess and she just broke down. It was really weird." Erica replied.

"So nothing happened? Nobody was mean to her? She didn't fail a test or spill her lunch? You guys aren't readings book about orphans are you?" Vance asked.

"No she didn't have any issues and we are reading "A Christmas Carol" that is her favorite book. I can't imagine what upset her so bad." Erica explained.

"OK, I will call Jimmy and tell him that I don't know anything but if you think of anything let me know. OK?" Vance replied.

"Of course" Erica replied relieved that she had not been found out. It had been a funny prank but her dad probably wouldn't find it funny. For some reason adults didn't find such humor funny.

"That's my girl, now go tell your brother that dinner is about ready, Kayla and Maria will be home any minute and Abby Scuito is joining us for dinner." Vance explained.

"Great!" Erica replied running off towards her room. She was getting good at lying and she liked it that way...

* * *

Olivia had been crying for hours by now. She was so hysterical that she could not believe that Breena had lost the baby. Jimmy and her had tried so long for this child. For years before they adopted Cody and her. She could not believe how strong Breena and Jimmy were being through all of this. Jimmy wasn't even crying when he came to pick her up. Breena was still lying in bed but Olivia could not hear any crying coming from her room. Maybe that was good. Then again what if Breena just lay in bed all day? She had heard of people dying of broken hearts. What if that happened to Breena? She couldn't handle losing another mother.

"Olivia?" Jimmy called from the doorway.

"What?" Olivia sniffed.

"Are you ready to talk about what happened?" Jimmy asked.

"The baby died." Olivia sobbed.

"What do you mean?" Jimmy asked.

"Don't play dumb to protect me! Erica told me that Breena had a miscarriage!" Olivia cried.

"Olivia the baby is just fine." Jimmy commented.

"It is?" Olivia asked.

"Yes, I don't know where Erica heard that but it is not true." Jimmy replied.

"You aren't lying?" Olivia asked.

"I would never lie to protect you and if Breena had suffered a miscarriage. I would have come to talk to you about it a lot sooner." Jimmy assured.

* * *

Kristen was more than ready to get out of the hospital. She would be stuck in bed for another couple of days and she would be on a liquid diet for a while but at least she would be out of the hospital. Even being home with her overprotective mother would be better than being at the hospital.

"How are you feeling baby girl?" Abby B. asked.

"Better" Kristen replied.

"Good, visiting hours are over but I will be back tomorrow." Abby B. explained.

"Will I be out of here tomorrow?" Kristen asked.

"As long as you do well tonight." Abby B. replied.

"I feel fine now." Kristen argued.

"I know but they like to be extra careful after surgery." Abby B. reminded.

* * *

Shane glared angrily at the photo albums, marker, and poster board that lay before him. He could not understand why he had to do this stupid project. Why were family trees such a big deal anyway? In the old days when you needed paper documents to know family histories but now days everything was online and could accessed with the swipe of a finger. It was nothing more than an outdated project. Probably only kept alive by the people who stock piled beans and toilet paper for when society fell apart. And why did it have to go back _five_ generations? That was so stupid and tedious. At least the bottom two branches were easy enough. It was the third branch where he ran into problems. He had never met his maternal grandfather. He had died before he was born and he wasn't sure he could find a picture of him. Seeing as his Grandpa Bear was a Navajo Indian and believed that photographs stole the soul. Their weren't even any pictures of his mom until she was ten and her parents had separated. He thought about writing that the photo was unavailable but was sure that if he did that he would get in trouble. So he got up and asked his mom if she remembered what he looked like. Mrs. Tucker said that you could use drawings if need be but they had to be semi accurate but when he got to the living room. His mom was asleep on the couch. Sighing he walked down the hall to his mother's room, he checked behind him before opening the door and walking inside. He made his way over to the closer and opened the door. He found his mom's memory box, praying that he would find some form of clue. He opened it up and rifled through the box. Finally he came to what he assumed was a photograph that read, "Your dad" on the back. Excitedly he flipped it over and was shocked by what he saw. Instead of a Navajo man. He saw a face he new very well. The man who had oh so briefly worked with _his_ father at NCIS. The man who was a legend at the agency. The man who was the namesake of his girlfriend.

"Mike Franks is my grandfather." Shane gasped.

* * *

 **A/N: Twist! What do you think? New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.**


	8. Lying

By her second day of being sick Mica was feeling much better. Not well enough to go downstairs or even really get out of bed but well enough to where she didn't feel like she was going to die. Of course she knew that she was not going to die. It was just an expression that people used sometimes. Feeling better unfortunately meant that she had to at least try to do some of her homework. She liked school but about the only advantage to being sick in bed. Was not having to do any homework. Of course she was going to miss at least the rest of the week and the work would really pile up. Maybe she should try to get started on her homework. She managed to get half of her math assignment complete before she started to feel too bad to stay awake anymore. She set her homework down on the floor and climbed back under the covers. As she drifted off she wondered what her friends were doing. If Kristen was home yet and what the others were doing at school. She hoped that she was not missing out on anything fun. She wasn't sure how long she had been asleep when her dad came into her room and gently shook her awake.

"Mica? How are you feeling?" Gibbs asked.

"OK I guess." Mica replied.

"You are still running a fever but that is to be expected. Just get some rest OK." Gibbs replied.

"I did a little math homework." Mica replied.

"Good, but don't strain yourself." Gibbs replied.

"I won't but I do want to have it out of the way." Mica replied.

"Well if you can't get it done now you have seven days to get it done after you get back." Gibbs reminded.

"I know but will have other work to do then." Mica commented.

"Don't stress on it too much. I am sorry I even mentioned doing your homework." Gibbs apologized.

"It's OK" Mica yawned.

"I know I just hate seeing you sick and stressed." Gibbs replied.

"Why are you up here?" Mica asked.

"I needed to check on you but I woke you up to tell you that I am going out with Abby Borin for a while and Ducky is going to stay with you." Gibbs explained.

"What about Kristen?" Mica asked.

"Abby Borin's neighbor is staying with her. Neither one of you are up for travel and you are still contagious." Gibbs explained.

"I don't feel like seeing anyone anyway." Mica yawned.

"OK, I am sorry for disturbing you. Get some more sleep." Gibbs instructed.

"I don't mind." Mica yawned.

* * *

Unfortunately for Kristen being home the hospital, meant about as much fun as being in the hospital was. She didn't really feel like getting out of bed. Even if she was just sitting in her wheelchair. Her stomach was still killing her and her stitches were insanely itchy. She could not wait until they came out in a week or two. She wished that she had not gotten appendicitis or that if she had. Her stitches would have been in one of the areas she could not feel. Of course if she were like that. Her appendix could have burst and she could have died or at the very lease been a lot sicker than she was. She could not imagine being stuck in the hospital longer or being so sick that she could have died or worse dying. Maybe she did get lucky but she really did want to get out of bed.

* * *

Erica shifted nervously on her bed. Her dad had said that he needed to talk to her. About something serious. She knew what that meant. She had been found out. How was she going to get out of this one? She knew what she had done was wrong but Olivia hadn't talked and Jimmy was so stupid. He would probably just let her cry. Who knows, maybe she had gotten lucky and Breena really had lost the baby. She knew that was horrible but she really... really did not want to get in trouble. She hated getting into trouble. Though it really wouldn't be fair if she did get in trouble. Because Olivia had been stupid enough to believe her. The door to her room opened and her dad walked in.

"I talked to Jimmy today." Vance stated.

"Oh yeah? How is he? How is Breena?" Erica asked.

"They are all fine and Olivia is feeling much better." Vance replied.

"That is good, did they ever figure out what had Olivia so upset?" Erica asked, hoping against hope that she was out of the woods.

"Actually yes and that is what I wanted to talk to you about." Vance replied.

"Do you think that I could make her feel better?" Erica asked.

"She told me what you said. How you said that Breena had a miscarriage. Why on Earth would you say that? Miscarriages are very serious and sad things. Not something you should make a joke about. Did you know that your mom had three? That is why there is such a gap between you and your brother. The first two were early on but one was late in the pregnancy. We fought for months to save that baby but in the end your mom was too sick and it was either the baby or both of them. She was so depressed after that one. That she talked about killing herself. If we hadn't of gotten pregnant with you and managed to carry you to term. I think she would have done it and I know for a fact that she would be extremely disappointed in you. I know for a fact I am and so are Jared and Kayla." Vance explained.

"I only did it because Olivia said that it was funny that my mom had died of cancer! I was so upset that I couldn't think about anything else!" Erica cried.

"Is that so?" Vance asked.

"Yes and it upset me very badly." Erica lied.

"I am sorry that she said that. I will be in to talk to you. As soon as I talk to Jimmy. He must know that his daughter is behaving so cruelly." Vance replied.

"Oh but I would hate for her to get in trouble." Erica replied feigning guilt.

"That is very noble of you but if I don't say anything to him then she could really hurt somebody. You wouldn't want that would you?" Vance questioned.

"No of course not but tell Olivia that I am praying that she will be happy and not have to behave like such a bully." Erica replied in a sing song voice.

* * *

Shane studied his family tree project. He had tried to talk to his mom about it but she just changed the subject. So he just bit the bullet and put a question mark over the maternal grandfather space. He knew that it could cost him points but he did not care. A couple of points off was better for his grade than not turning in the major project of the semester.

"Shane! Dinner is ready!" Tara called from the doorway.

"I am like seven feet away! You don't have to yell!" Shane snapped.

"Sorry but I was calling you for like ten minutes." Tara replied.

"Sorry but I was finishing my project." Shane replied.

"Oh yeah, how did it come out?" Tara asked.

"OK but I could not do my maternal grandfather or anybody on that side." Shane explained.

"Bear was our grandpa." Tara replied.

"You really believe that?" Shane asked.

"Why wouldn't I?" Tara asked.

"Oh come on a Navajo who did not believe in having his photo taken?" Shane asked.

"It's a true belief Shane. Don't be so rude." Tara replied.

"Oh OK but if our mom's dad is Indian..." Shane started.

"Native American" Tara corrected.

"Fine if out grandfather is Native American than how come we are all so white?" Shane asked.

"Grandma Rose was Irish." Tara remind.

"OK but what about all of those stories? Don't they seem a little movieish?" Shane asked.

"What are you getting at?" Tara asked.

"I found this in mom's closet." Shane replied handing Tara the photograph of Mike Franks.

"Is that Mike Franks?" Tara asked.

"Yes" Shane replied.

"Did you steal that from dad's stuff?" Tara asked.

"No it was with mom's stuff." Shane replied.

"So you were going through mom's stuff. Without her permission I am sure and you found this. So you took this photograph and wrote daddy on it? Why to make your project more exciting? That is so wrong Shane. I am telling mom." Tara replied before angrily storming out of the room.

* * *

Olivia stood in the doorway of the kitchen. She was starving but Jimmy was taking forever to get dinner ready. Cody had woken up with a bad stomach bug and Jimmy had spent most of the day trying to help him feel better. On top of taking care of Breena, who was not feeling well herself. Not lose the baby sick. Just bad pregnancy sickness. Jimmy had just started to get dinner ready when Vance called him. They had talked for a long time and then not long after that Ducky came over. Jimmy looked upset and Ducky looked concerned. They had quickly disappeared into the kitchen and Olivia was extremely curious about what they were talking about.

"I cannot believe that Olivia would tell Erica that it was funny that her mom died of cancer." Jimmy said.

"It is not like her. Not at all." Ducky agreed.

"I wonder if she is acting up because of Breena being on bed-rest" Jimmy replied.

"That could very well be. She has been through a lot and now her adoptive mother is so sick and the baby is struggling." Ducky explained.

"I wonder if I should take her to a psychologist." Jimmy commented.

"It couldn't hurt." Ducky replied.

"I know but I am more worried about if it doesn't help. If she is going to act out. I am not sure if I can keep her. I would hate to put her back in the system but I don't know what is going to happen with this baby." Jimmy explained.

* * *

 **A/N: Erica had better confess soon. As for Shane hopefully somebody will believe him. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.**


	9. Morning Panic

Mica woke up around four in the morning. She felt like she was being stabbed in a throat by one of those flaming swords people swallowed at the Renaissance Fair and her lungs felt like they were filled with cotton. Thinking that clearing her throat may help. Big mistake, her small cough turned into a coughing fit. No matter how hard she tried, she could not catch her breath. She struggled to pull herself out of bed, in hopes that standing would help her catch her breath. Her second big mistake. She got on to her feet but it felt like the room was spinning around her. Her eyes began to water, and the floor got closer and closer, until she hit the ground with a heavy thud. She continued to cough after she fell but the world around her got darker and darker, until it was completely black...

* * *

Gibbs tossed and turned in his bed. He was exhausted after a long day o working and tending to two sick daughters and worried fiancee. He wanted nothing more than to drift off to sleep but his gut was churning and no matter how hard he tried, he could not seem to relax. He heard a crash coming from across the hall, jumped out of the bed, and ran towards his daughter's room. He swung the door open, flipped the light on, and found Mica lying on the floor, her breathing was labored and had a rattle to it. He raced to her side and fell on his knees beside her, placing his hand on her forehead. She was burning up, her face was pale and her finger tips were blue. She was not getting proper oxygen. His heart skipped a beat. This reminded him too much of when Tony first contracted the pneumonic plague. He had to check Mica's sleeves, for blood. All he found was yellowish green mucus, but that was still concerning and then there was that fever. She was almost too hot too touch. He grabbed the thermometer off of the table and stuck it under her tongue. Seconds later it beeped and he held it up to his eyes. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the blinking black digits "106.4". He ran back across the hall in a panic and threw on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. Before running back across the hall, scooping Mica up into his arms, and racing her out to the car. He buckled her into the backseat and walked over to the front seat. Before pulling out of the driveway he dialed Ducky's number, he was already turning out of his neighborhood when his friend answered.

"Jethro it is four thirty in the morning? Do we have a case?"

"No Duck, it's personal."

"What is wrong?"

"I am rushing Mica to Bethesda."

"God heavens! What's wrong?!"

"She is running a raging fever and I don't think that she can breathe."

"Oh dear! I will get dressed and meet you there in a flash!"

"Thanks Duck"

"She will be fine Jethro. Children tend to scare the hell out of you but then bounce back just as quickly as they became ill."

"I know but I just keep thinking about Tony. When he got sick."

"I highly doubt that Micheala has the plague."

"But people have been getting it lately."

"That is true but Jethro I have not heard of a local case and I know they did blood-work when she was at the hospital the other day."

"I know but she is really sick and I am really scared."

"I will be right there but do not fret. I am sure that it is nothing too serious."

"I hope so."

* * *

Kristen woke up in the morning feeling much better. She pulled herself into her wheelchair, got dressed and wheeled herself into the kitchen. She started to pour herself a bowl of Lucky Charms but it was quickly yanked out of her hands.

"Hey!" Kristen snapped.

"Sorry only liquids and light solids for two more days." Abby B. apologized.

"But I am feeling better." Kristen whined.

"Doctors orders" Abby B. explained.

"What do doctors, know?" Kristen asked.

"You really are Jethro's daughter, aren't you?" Abby B. asked shaking her head.

"That's what the paternity test said." Kristen replied.

"That was just for the lawyer. I knew from the second that you born that you were his." Abby B. explained.

"How?" Kristen asked.

"Well for starters you tried to cut your own umbilical cord, because the doctors were not getting it done fast enough." Abby B. explained.

* * *

Olivia could not wait to get out of the house that morning. Not because she loved school but because she just wanted to get away from her house. Jimmy had yelled at her for an hour the night before, because of what she told Erica. According to him, she had told Erica that she was glad that her mom died. She had said no such thing and she never would. That was absolutely sick. She had tried to tell Jimmy that she had not said anything like that but he would not believe her. Now she was grounded for a week and even worse, Jimmy was considering getting rid of her. His words to Ducky still echoed and bounced around in her ears. She started crying again on the bus and by the time she got to the school her eyes were so sore and fogged. That she did not see Shane, until she had crashed into him and knocked him down. She stumbled back but managed to catch herself. Shane pulled himself up and dusted himself off.

"I am so sorry Shane. Are you OK?" Olivia asked.

"I am fine but what about you? You were crying?" Shane questioned.

"I am fine. It is nothing. Don't worry about it." Olivia sniffed, turning and running in the opposite direction.

* * *

Shane was nervous to say the least. He had gotten his family tree project done but instead of the question mark, Tara insisted her use his grandpa Bear. So that he would not lose any points. Unfortunately she could not find a pictures of him either. So she just cut a picture of a bear out of a magazine and taped it in place, using the information she knew. He wished that he had just used Mike Franks. It may get him in trouble at home but at least he would be sure to get an A. There was no turning back now. He was standing in front of Mrs. Tucker's desk holding the piece of poster-board in his hands.

"Is that your project, Shane?" Mrs. Tucker asked.

"Yes mam" Shane replied handing her the paper.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Mrs. Tucker asked.

"What do you mean?" Shane questioned.

"Do you really expect me to believe that your grandfather was a bear?" Mrs. Tucker demanded.

"Well he wasn't a bear. His name was bear and he was a Navajo who did not believe in having his picture taken. So my sister just cut this out but he wasn't really my grandfather. My real grandfather was Mike Franks but my mom doesn't know that I know yet and Tara won't believe me. So I just turned this in." Shane explained.

"You know Mr. Brecken, sometimes it is better just to take the incomplete than to lie for attention and try to augment your grade. I will give you a B, but I am also contacting your mom and we will discuss your recent behavior." Mrs. Tucker warned.

"But...But" Shane stuttered.

"Just take your seat." Mrs. Tucker warned.

* * *

Erica could not believe that she had gotten away with it again. Even better her dad had told Jimmy and now Olivia was in trouble. Ideally that meant that if Olivia tried to rat her out to the teacher, nobody would believe her. If it happened that way Erica was in the clear for not only this crime but any other trouble she may get into with her new friends. She got to school and saw Lucile and Courtney waiting for her at her desk. Lucile was the only one in Mrs. Tucker's class. Pamela and Courtney were in Mr. Russel's class and Albania was in Mrs. Braxton's class but Courtney was Mrs. Tucker's step-daughter. So sometimes she would hangout in there in the mornings.

"Are you in trouble?" Lucile asked.

"No, why would you think that?" Erica asked.

"Jared told Lucas and Lucinda that you were in trouble but he didn't know what for." Lucile explained.

"Yeah you better not have taken us down with you." Courtney warned.

"Don't worry, I am not in trouble. My dad knew what I told Olivia but I told him that she had told me that she thought it was funny that my mom died." Erica explained.

"Girl! You are a natural!" Courtney cried.

"That is so totally awesome! You not only saved yourself but you also got an innocent person in trouble! You are so officially a part of our group!" Lucile cried.

"I know! I am great and I am glad that I am friends with you guys! My old friends were such baby losers." Erica explained.

* * *

 **A/N: Hopefully Mica will be OK and Debbie will tell Shane the truth. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.**


	10. Better

Mica was stabilized by that evening, a fact that Gibbs was beyond grateful for. She had scared the shit out of him that morning. By the time he got her to the hospital, she was barely breathing. Bethesda was not the closest hospital to his house but that was where Brad worked. Dr. Pitt had saved Tony's ass enough times, for him to know that Mica was in the best hands possible. Mica had been admitted upon arrival. They didn't even make her wait to be examined. They just brought out a stretcher and rushed her to the on of the ER cubicles. Dr. Pitt was not on until eight but the doctor who checked her out sent her straight to the PICU. Her pneumonia had taken a bad turn and there was something else not right with her. They had drawn blood and taken chest X-Rays. Hours had passed and waiting was driving Gibbs crazy.

"Agent Gibbs?" Dr. Pitt called.

"Time to go?" Gibbs asked.

"Not even close, you still have about two hours." Dr. Pitt replied.

"Sorry, it's easy to lose track of time in here." Gibbs replied.

"Understandable, anyway I am here because I have Mica's test results." Dr. Pitt replied.

"What's up? How bad is it?" Gibbs asked.

"She has asthma, it is not a severe case but is bad enough. She will have to take medication twice a day and carry an inhaler at all times but as long as she takes her medicine. She will be just fine. I will speak to her once she is ready to be discharged." Dr. Pitt explained.

"When will that be?" Gibbs asked.

"Maybe day after tomorrow but we should be able to move her down to the regular pediatric ward by tomorrow." Dr. Pitt replied.

"Good" Gibbs replied.

* * *

Kristen slipped her notebook into her backpack and rolled herself over to her bed. She was all caught up on her homework for the week. Not like she had anything better to do anyway. At least she would be able to go back to school on Monday.

"Getting ready for bed already?" Abby B. asked.

"There's nothing else to do." Kristen sighed.

"Well the doctor wants you to take it easy for a couple more days but maybe we can go to the park tomorrow." Abby B. suggested.

"Can we go to the diner?" Kristen asked.

"Not just yet, you still have to eat light until at least seven days post-op." Abby B. explained.

"Oh alright" Kristen sighed.

"I almost forgot, we will have to go tomorrow afternoon." Abby B. reminded.

"Why?" Kristen asked.

"Mica is in the hospital and I am going to see her early." Abby B. explained.

"What's wrong?" Kristen asked.

"Pneumonia and asthma, don't worry she is going to be OK." Abby B. assured.

"Figures she would get sick now." Kristen sighed.

"What does that mean?" Abby B. asked.

"Nothing" Kristen sighed.

* * *

The meeting with Mrs. Tucker went a lot better than Shane had expected. His mom had told her outright that they did not know who Shane's grandfather was and that he had probably just made up the stories to protect his grade. He had lost five points and another ten for turning the project in a day late but that was still an eighty-five. Which would keep his grade at a C. just enough to keep him off restriction and on the soccer team.

"Shane, I need to talk to you." Debbie said.

"What's going on?" Shane asked.

"Now what I am about to tell you. It has to stay between us. I promised your grandma Rose that I would never tell a soul about this. At least not while she was alive. So as long as she is on this planet this stays in this room." Debbie explained.

"What are you talking about?" Shane asked.

"You've know those romantic movies that your sister loves, where the nurse falls in love with the injured soldier?" Debbie asked.

"Yes" Shane replied.

"Well in nineteen sixty-four, your grandma Rose was working for the Red Cross and Mike was shot and brought into her hospital. She didn't save his life but she did nurse him back to health. Pretty much exclusively because he either alienated of sexually harassed all of the other nurses. One night they were alone. He was about to be discharged and she was about to go home. To marry a man named Joe Barrett. In the heat of the moment during a power surge. They made love and nine months later I was born. She knew that I had to be Mike's child because Joe and her had chosen to wait until after they were married." Debbie explained.

"OK then why have I never met this Joe?" Shane asked.

"When she came up pregnant, Joe who had been overseas for a year and half and remained loyal was furious and he left her. My mom was shunned and forced out of her small town in Alabama. Now this happened a lot but your grandma was one of the lucky ones who was able to find Mike but he wanted nothing to do with her. He was not ready to be a father. He did get her set up in an apartment and pay child support but he did not want it to be known that he was a father. Your grandma told me that my dad died in the war and I believed it. Half my friends had lost a dad, brother, or uncle to the war. So it wasn't a stretch. I met Mike when I met your father and he told me the truth. I told my mom and she was horrified. After leaving your grandma, Joe became a drunk and a drug addict. He finally got cleaned up in the eighties and got married but his liver failed and he died when his children were just ten and fifteen. Your grandma felt tremendous guilt and made me promise to keep her secret." Debbie explained.

"OK but what about Bear?" Shane asked.

"He was my imaginary friend when I was a kid and who I pretended was my father." Debbie explained.

"OK but why are there no pictures of you before you were ten?" Shane asked.

"When I was a teenager, I was sneaking a smoke in the attic and started a fire. All my baby pictures were up there. The other ones were downstairs and my aunt saved them." Debbie explained.

* * *

 **A/N: At least Shane knows the truth now. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.**


	11. Frusturated

It was five days before Mica was well enough to go home. She spent only two of those days in intensive care. Those days were painful for Gibbs, he hated seeing his baby girl so sick. Once she was in a regular room, her friends were allowed to see her. Shane was with her almost all afternoon for those three days, Kristen came just once for a short time but she was still recovering herself, and Olivia came by twice for a few hours each time. Only Erica did not come to to the hospital. Gibbs was because Erica and Mica had been practically inseparable since they were toddlers. Of course Leon had mentioned that Erica had been acting strangely recently. Mica was still sleeping while he signed the discharge papers but woke up in time to leave. Seeing her sitting in the wheelchair, being rolled out to the waiting car. Reminded Gibbs so much of when Tony came home after battling the plague. Mica was not on oxygen but she was arguing about having to use the wheelchair.

"I don't need this thing!" Mica snapped.

"Yes you do. It is hospital policy." Gibbs explained.

"Ducky said that when you got out of the hospital after being blown-up. You walked out of the hospital yourself." Mica commented.

"That's different because that was me." Gibbs replied.

"Whatever" Mica sighed.

* * *

Mica still felt terrible but she felt much better than she did when she was first admitted to the hospital. She was so glad that all that was wrong with her was asthma. Even though her dad had become extra protective of her since getting the news. She just hoped that her friends wouldn't treat her any differently. She didn't think that it would but there was still a concern.

"How are you feeling?" Gibbs asked.

"OK" Mica sighed.

"You will be better soon enough and I think that you can go to school on Monday. Just remember your inhaler. Take it before lunch so that you are set by recess." Gibbs explained.

"Will do" Mica assured.

"That's my girl. I talked to Miss. Tucker and Nurse Wilson. I am going to get an extra inhaler for the nurses office just in case and I still have Tony's breathing treatment machine." Gibbs explained.

"That still good?" Mica asked.

"He had just gotten it from Dr. Pitt a couple of months before he died." Gibbs replied.

"And anyone can use it?" Mica asked.

"I got new attachments but the machine itself is still fine." Gibbs explained.

"OK" Mica replied.

"I want you to get some sleep but I will get you up in about an hour for lunch." Gibbs explained.

"Sounds good" Mica replied.

* * *

Kristen wished that she could explain the frustrations that she was feeling. She was sick of hearing about her mom's wedding, she was sick of being stuck in a wheelchair and being over-protected, but most of all she was sick of Mica. She felt like her parents liked Mica more than her, because Mica could follow in their footsteps. Meanwhile she was stuck being a cripple and getting some boring desk job. She wanted to be in the Coast Guard but that wouldn't happen now. Everybody said that she was so smart and could do whatever she wanted but that was not true. In a way she hated Gibbs for what happened to her. If he was such a great agent, why couldn't he catch the Hollis's before anybody got hurt. Why did it have to be her that got hurt. It was Mica who they were really after, wasn't it?

* * *

Shane felt strange knowing the truth. Knowing that Mike Franks was his grandfather. Part of him was excited to be related to somebody who was such a legend at NCIS and desperately wished that he could tell Mica about it. She would be ecstatic to know that her boyfriend was related to her namesake. Still part of him was upset about it. He felt bad for his grandmother. Her whole life being complicated by one mistake. She was young and got thrown into a wild romance, that cost her, her fiancee, and the respect of her entire town. He could not imagine having to live with such a mistake and then he felt bad for calling his mom a mistake. He knew that his grandmother loved Debbie and the grandchildren that she had given her. She just wished that things were not so complicated and so did he.

"Shane! Dinner!" Tara called.

"Coming!" Shane called back.

"Hey so what were you and mom talking about?" Tara asked.

"School, she told me to take my assignments more seriously and that I was lucky to get away with a B Plus this time but I may not be so lucky next time." Shane explained.

"Oh well I hope that you listened." Tara replied.

"Don't worry, I did." Shane assured.

* * *

Erica rode her bike to Pamela's house. Apparently there was some big news that she just had to hear about. She could not wait to find out what it was. She bet that it was good, because they had texted her on _her_ cellphone. Rather than contacting her on her dad, Jared or Kayla's phones. She rode of Pamela's long driveway and surveyed her surroundings. Even though Pam's family only lived two blocks away from the Vance's. It was like a whole other world. Their house was four times the size of that Vance's and had a huge marble and gold fountain in the center of yard.

"Nice isn't it?" Pamela asked.

"Yes" Erica replied.

"My house is even bigger." Lucile bragged.

"Oh shut up!" Pamela snapped.

"Well it's true." Lucile replied.

"So why am I here?" Erica asked.

"We've got a new plan." Albania smirked.

"And it's a good one." Courtney replied.

"Even better than the last." Pamela added.

"And we know that you can do it." Lucile finished.

"What is it?" Erica asked.

"My cousin Nora gets tutored by Shane Breckin's older sister Tara. Well she was at their house the other day and needed the bathroom. Which is right next to Shane's room and she overheard Shane's mom tell him that Mike Franks was his grandfather and that he was not supposed to tell anyone. Because it would break his grandma's heart. Well tomorrow during computer time, you are going to log into Shane's, Facebook page and post it for the world to see." Albania explained.

"I thought you liked Shane." Erica commented.

"We used to but he ignored us for too long and now he must pay." Lucile explained.

"So we do it tomorrow?" Erica asked, she could not wait to pull the latest prank.

* * *

Olivia leaned back on her bed. The good news was that Jimmy was not mad at her anymore. The bad was that he was still disappointed in her. She wished that he would believe her and even more than that she wished that Erica would go back to the way she was. She was so sick of mean girls and bullies, she was sick of being alone. She was sick of being hurt. Maybe it would be best if she just ran away. She could live in the burned out shell of her old home, with the ghosts of her old family. She got off the bed, tossed a few outfits into her overnight bag, along with a couple of books, and the stuffed dog that Jimmy had given her, when he still liked her. She peaked out into the hallway and saw that everybody was asleep. She went back into her room, picked up her bag, and sneaked back out into the hallway, and made her way downstairs. She took one last look around the place she thought was her home before leaving.

"I'm sorry, Cody." Olivia sniffed before leaving her home forever.

* * *

 **A/N: Hopefully somebody will catch Olivia before it is too late. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.**


	12. I'm Back

Mica was finally well enough to go back to school by Monday. Before she was allowed to even put her shoes on. She had to show her dad that she had her inhaler in her pocket. At least in the winter she could keep it in her coat but she had a feeling it was going to be a lot harder to manage during the summer. It wasn't that she was ashamed of having asthma or felt like a geek carrying an inhaler. She just didn't like the idea of having to carry something around with her all the time. It seemed like it would probably slow her down. Deep down she knew that she was lucky. She had looked up asthma on her laptop and some of the images really disturbed her. Some kids couldn't even play or exert themselves at all. Because they had such a high risk of having a severe attack. Sometimes asthma came with dander allergies. Which would mean no pets. Thankfully her only allergies were dust and cottonwood. The dust was diagnosed with her asthma but cottonwood was discovered years ago when her dad took her to Indiana to see Kate's grave. She was relieved that she could have pets though, because Kristen was supposed to be getting a dog to help her out a little. So she wouldn't be so dependent on her mom and others for help and Mica kind of wanted to get a cat. Even though her dad hated cats.

"Mica! Your alive!" Shane cried as Mica entered the classroom.

"Alive but I have a new friend." Mica sighed.

"Really, who?" Shane asked.

"This" Mica replied, pulling her inhaler out of her pocket.

"You have asthma?" Shane asked.

"Yep, that's why I was so sick." Mica explained.

"Oh well I am glad that you are OK." Shane replied.

"Me too" Mica replied.

"Just be careful around my mom. She doesn't like to be told not to smoke." Shane replied.

"My dad will deal with her." Mica assured.

* * *

Kristen dumped her library book into the book drop, before rolling herself to the cafeteria. One advantage to being stuck in a wheelchair, was that she got to get her lunch five minutes early. Just like always she was the last kid in the line of seven kids who got lunch early. Of that group only her and a fifth grade girl named Ally were the only ones not in the special ed class. Ally had lost her leg to bone cancer a few years back.

"Hey, Kris!" Ally greeted.

"Hi Ally" Kristen replied.

"Are you OK?" Ally asked.

"I am fine, just tired." Kristen replied.

"Are you sure? You always seem so depressed." Ally observed.

"I am just frustrated." Kristen replied.

"Oh cause of your accident." Ally replied picking up one of her popcorn "shrimp" and tossing it into her mouth.

"Well duh" Kristen replied.

"You should come with me to Hope Place. It's a rec center for kids with special needs. Everything is handicapped accessible and they have support groups. They saved my life when I lost my leg in first grade." Ally explained.

"I will think about it." Kristen replied.

"OK, well here is my mom's cell number. Give it to your mom and tell her to get in touch. I go every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and most Saturdays." Ally explained.

"Thanks, I will give it to her." Kristen replied.

* * *

It was a quarter to three and that meant that it was free computer time. Free computer time was a guarantee on Friday's. Unless the class acted up or there was some special event at the end of the day. The rest of the week it depended on if the class got all their work done and everybody got good behavior reports. Except for this week they got a special free time on Monday. Because there was a small fire in the teachers lounge on Friday. Erica was relieved they got a make-up day, because she could not wait to pull her next prank. Shane got onto one of the computers, he logged onto Facebook but quickly got bored and went over to talk to Mica. Erica grinned and rushed over to the computer. To her excitement he had forgotten to log out. She clicked on the status box and began to type. Mrs. Tucker had just given the two minute warning. When she hit send, she read the status she had posted, before logging off. She couldn't help but smile at her words, she knew that Shane would get in trouble for this for sure.

" _Hey! Guess what I found out that my grandpa is Mike Franks! My grandma is a HUGE slut and fucked him during the war. She cheated on her fiancee, who was loyal to her. She should be ashamed of herself. She should kill herself."_

* * *

Jimmy had spent most of the day crying. He had awoken three days ago to find Olivia missing. When he didn't find her anywhere in the house or yard and found her phone abandoned underneath her bed. He called 911. praying that she would be found safe and sound and soon. It had been nine hours now and there was still nothing. Even worse, Breena was when Breena woke up and asked where she was and he had to tell her that there daughter was missing. Now even Cody was asking questions and he had no answers for him. Except for the fact that his daughter's disappearance was entirely his fault. He should not have been so hard on her. He should have talked to her and figured out why she was so mean to Erica. Instead he had flipped out on her and treated her so poorly.

"Oh Jimmy! What if we never find her?" Breena asked.

"We will" Jimmy assured.

"This is all my fault. She probably ran off because everything has to be so controlled because of my pregnancy and high blood pressure." Breena sniffed.

"No it's my fault. I was so hard on her after her fight with Erica. I had every right to be furious but I should have cooled down and talked to her about it." Jimmy sighed.

"We were just so stressed, we pusher her aside and now we may never see her again." Breena replied.

"We will find her and we will work this out as a family." Jimmy vowed.

* * *

Shane lie on his bed and tossed his tennis ball, against the wall. He was so bored, Mica was still too sick to really play with him, Kristen didn't want to do much, Olivia must be sick now, and Erica had refused to hang out with him or anyone but the cool kids for a few weeks now. Leaving him stuck in his boring house that was ruled by estrogen.

"SHANE ALEXANDER BREKIN!" Debbie yelled, storming into the room.

"What is it mom? Is dinner ready? It's awful early." Shane asked.

"What is this?!" Debbie demanded shoving her phone into his face.

"Facebook?" Shane guessed.

"Don't play dumb with me! What does your status say?!" Debbie demanded.

"Hey! Guess what I found out that my grandpa is Mike Franks! My grandma is a HUGE slut and fucked him during the war. She cheated on her fiancee, who was loyal to her. She should be ashamed of herself. She should kill herself." Shane read.

"Yeah that! How could you?! You promised that you wouldn't tell anyone and what do you do?! You call your grandma a slut and say she should commit suicide!" Debbie snapped.

"I didn't post that." Shane argued.

"Bullshit! It is on your page! You are grounded for a month! You are going to Dr. Walters! Everyday after school! And that is it!" Debbie snapped.

"That's not fair." Shane sniffed.

"You know what's not fair?! Seeing that your child thinks that his grandma is a slut who needs to kill herself!" Debbie snapped.

"But I... Oh never-mind!" Shane cried.

* * *

 **A/N: Hopefully Kristen will go with Ally. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.**


	13. News

Mica felt as if her friends were abandoning her. First Kristen started acting weird, then Erica started hanging out with the cool kids, then Olivia disappeared and now Shane had stopped speaking to her. He wouldn't even look at her during class. She knew that most childhood friends ended up eventually growing apart but she had hoped that it wouldn't happen so soon. She had spent most of the week moping around feeling sorry for herself and wishing that things would just go back to how they were. Before Erica changed, before Kristen was paralyzed, before Gracie died.

"Mica?" Gibbs called.

"What is it?" Mica asked looking up from her grilled cheese.

"I have to go to the Palmer's and stay with Breena for a bit. Stacy is coming over to keep an eye on you." Gibbs replied.

"Oh OK" Mica replied.

"What's wrong? Worried about Olivia?" Gibbs asked.

"A little but I am also feeling sad about something else." Mica replied.

"What's up?" Gibbs asked.

"Shane hasn't talked to me all week. He was my last friend." Mica replied.

"That is strange, but maybe something is going on at home. I will call Debbie from the Palmer's and see what is up." Gibbs replied.

"Can I go with you? To the Palmer's?" Mica asked.

"You will have to be really quiet and not bother Breena at all. Her blood pressure is through the roof and if she gets anymore stressed they are going to have to admit her to the hospital." Gibbs explained.

"I don't mind. I just want to get out of the house." Mica replied.

"OK, grab your inhaler and meet me in the car in five minutes." Gibbs replied.

"Will do" Mica agreed.

* * *

Kristen glared out the window of her mom's van. She could not believe that she was being forced to go to Hope Place. She was sure that it would be just like physical therapy but with different activities. She figured that the leaders and teachers would have the same overly perky and annoying attitude that the therapists had. She had tried to hide Ally's mom's phone number but she had forgotten to take it out of her jeans pocket before laundry day, her mom had found it, and now she was stuck going to that stupid place.

"Don't look so depressed, I am sure that it will be fun." Abby B. assured.

"How do you know?" Kristen asked.

"I looked it up online and it looks really interesting. They have all kinds of activities swimming, music lessons, dance, and the one that I signed you up for horseback riding." Abby B. explained.

"How am I supposed to ride a horse?" Kristen asked.

"They have aides to help you onto the horse and ride with you until you get confident but these horses are also specially trained for paraplegic riders." Abby B. explained.

"It still sounds really stupid." Kristen scoffed.

"Just give it a chance for me." Abby B. begged.

"Fine but if I hate it I have to quit." Kristen replied.

"Deal" Abby B. replied.

* * *

Shane stared out his bedroom window. He could not remember the last time he felt so miserable. He had been grounded for a almost a week and he still had more than three to go. He wished that his mom and Tara would believe him. He did not make that post. He would never say anything like that. He hadn't even told Mica about Mike Franks. Unfortunately nobody would even listen to him. His mom had cried and said that she was ashamed and now Tara was acting like he had killed a man.

"The warden requests the prisoner!" Tara called swinging his door open.

"Could you please stop enjoying this so much?" Shane asked.

"You make fun of me when I get in trouble." Tara reminded.

"You have never been in this much trouble before." Shane replied.

"Well I never said that somebody should kill themselves online." Tara retorted.

"Whatever anyway what does mom want?" Shane asked.

"It's time for you to go to the shrink." Tara explained.

"Oh joy" Shane sighed.

"You brought this on yourself!" Tara taunted in a singsong voice.

* * *

Olivia had been on the run for almost a week now and she wanted nothing more than to go home. But she could not. She had fallen asleep on a bus and woken up in a strange city. She had no money left and somebody had stolen her suitcase while she slept on the streets of wherever she was.

"What are you doing out of school little girl?" A man asked.

"I don't go to school." Olivia replied.

"I am sure that isn't true. What are you hiding from? Bully? Mean teacher? Did you fail a test? I am sure whatever it is not that bad." The man asked.

"I actually ran away from home. I made my foster dad angry and he hates me now." Olivia replied.

"I am sure that's not true. What is his address? I will gladly take you home. If it is too far I will take you to the police station and they can help you." The man offered.

"4557 North Franklin Ave" Olivia replied.

"I have never heard of that street. What is it close to?" The man asked.

"It is about a twenty minute drive from Quantico." Olivia replied.

"Quantico?! As in the Navy Base?!" The man gasped.

"Yes, my foster dad works with the NCIS unit there." Olivia replied.

"How on Earth did such a little girl travel so far and not cause alarm?" The man asked.

"What are you talking about?" Olivia asked.

"Kid you are in Florida almost to Miami." The man replied.

"That explains the palm trees." Olivia commented.

"Can you tell me your name?" The man asked.

"Olivia Palmer" Olivia replied.

"Olivia?! Are you Jimmy and Breena's girl?" The man asked.

"Yes" Olivia replied.

"Jeez they have been looking for you for days. My best friend is Shelly Slater, Breena's sister and she has come in crying all week. She is so worried for her sister." The man replied.

"They miss me?" Olivia asked.

"Tons, now come on. Lets get you to the police station. They will help you get home." The man explained, taking Olivia's hand and guiding her to his car.

* * *

It was the end of another week and that meant another dare for Erica. Normally it was every other week but school was ending next Thursday and Courtney, Albania, and Pamela were all going out of town right after school. So the group was going to pull their prank a week early. Erica wondered who they would get this time. It would have to be Kristen or Mica. Once she had pranked all of her friends. She would be ready to prank anybody. Even the fifth graders. Maybe even middle schoolers. Olivia pulled her bike into Courtney's bike rack and walked to the front door.

"Hello! Olivia!" Courtney cried.

"Hi Lucile, where is everybody else?" Erica asked.

"Albania is grounded, Pamela is at the dentist, and Lucile's mom is making her volunteer at the homeless shelter." Courtney replied.

"Oh should I come back?" Erica asked.

"No I can tell you the prank now. It is the best yet and it is also personal for me." Courtney replied.

"What is it?" Erica asked.

"You are going to lock all the handicapped stalls from the inside, so that Kristen can't get into the bathroom and wets her pants." Courtney replied.

"Why is that personal?" Erica asked.'

"Because she made my sister Ally decide to go to Hope Place every Saturday and now I lost my bi-weekly trips to the mall!" Courtney snapped.

"Well that was rude. I will be glad to help you." Erica replied.

* * *

 **A/N: Olivia is on her way home but Erica has still not learned a thing. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.**


	14. Talk Later

Mica could not believe that it was already the last week of school before Christmas break. Most classes would just sit around all day and watch movies and have Christmas parties. Her dad had offered to let her stay home from school but she insisted on going. She had missed enough school when she was sick and in the hospital. Most of the class was out but Shane, Erica, and Kristen were all present. Olivia's seat was empty but she had been found safe and would be home in a matter of hours. The first movie of the day ended with only half an hour before lunch. So Miss. Tucker allowed the class to talk among themselves, until the bell rang. So long as the topics were appropriate and the volume was kept at a respectable level. Mica walked over to Shane's desk and took a seat in the empty desk beside his.

"Hi Shane" Mica greeted.

"Oh hi Mica." Shane replied nervously.

"Are you OK?" Mica asked.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" Shane asked.

"You have been acting really weird lately and you never want to play anymore." Mica explained.

"It's not that I don't want to play. It's that I can't. I have to go to the doctor's every day after school and after that I have to just go home." Shane explained.

"Doctor, everyday? Are you sick?" Mica asked.

"No... no don't worry. I am not sick. The doctor I am seeing is a therapist." Shane explained.

"Why do you have to see a therapist?" Mica asked.

"I got into trouble but I am not supposed to talk about it and I don't want a bunch of people to know that I am seeing a shrink, OK?" Shane asked.

"OK, but why didn't you tell me? You know that you can trust me." Mica questioned.

"I was worried that you would think I was crazy." Shane replied.

"I saw a shirk, for a while last year. After Tony died. Me and my dad both did." Mica admitted.

"Really?" Shane asked.

"Of course" Mica replied.

"Why did you never tell me?" Shane asked.

"I didn't want to admit that I missed Tony so much that I needed therapy." Mica explained.

"It's OK, I would have never judged you." Shane assured.

"Really?" Mica asked.

"Of course, anyway I get ungrounded right after break. Want to go ice skating that weekend? Tara and I each get to bring a friend." Shane offered.

"That sounds amazing, just call my dad closer to that day." Mica replied.

"Awesome!" Shane cried.

* * *

Kristen wiggled slightly in her wheelchair. She had to use the bathroom but she wanted to wait until lunch but knew that wasn't the best idea. It took twice as long to sign out in the cafeteria and half the time there was a first grader messing around in the handicapped stall. The last thing she wanted was to have an accident. She had one just after she want back to school last year and her mom made her carry spare clothes in her backpack and even worse her teacher asked her if she needed the restroom every half-hour.

"Miss. Tucker?" Kristen called.

"Yes, Miss. Borin?" Miss. Tucker asked.

"May I use the bathroom?" Kristen asked.

"Of course take the girl's bathroom card and sign out on the sheet." Miss. Tucker replied.

"Thanks, Miss. Tucker." Kristen replied.

* * *

Kristen rolled herself down the hall to the bathroom. Got inside and made her way to the handicapped stall. She pulled the handle but nothing happened, she pulled harder but again nothing happened. She pulled with all her might but all that happened was that the door shook slightly. She was getting desperate and knew that she wouldn't make it even down the hall. She had already dribbled a little. Maybe she could at least make it to the nurses office down the hall. It couldn't hurt to try. She had just opened the door when the bell rang. Just when she was outside her classroom. It happened. She lost all control and just like that her jeans were soaked.

"No" Kristen wimpered.

"Hey! Look! Kristen wet herself!" Erica cried.

"That's really mean, Erica. What if it was you?" Mica asked.

"Whatever" Erica scoffed.

* * *

Miss. Tucker and one of the fifth grade teachers approached her but she wheeled herself away. Trying not to breakdown crying. The last thing she needed was more humiliation. She rolled herself into the bathroom. Too many people would see her if she went to the nurse's office now. She pulled herself out of the wet chair and placed herself onto the floor.

"Kristen!" Ally called running into the bathroom.

"What?" Kristen asked.

"I saw what happened, are you OK?" Ally asked.

"Of course not! I wet my pants in front of everybody!" Kristen snapped.

"I guess that was a stupid question. I just wanted to be sure you weren't sick or anything." Ally replied.

"I am not sick. I just waited too long and then the handicapped stall wouldn't open." Kristen sniffed.

"That's weird, let me see." Ally replied, walking over to the stall and trying to open the door.

"See?" Kristen asked.

"Something's blocking it. I will tell somebody in the office after I take you to the nurse." Ally replied.

"I don't want to go to the nurse. Everybody will see." Kristen replied.

"Everybody's gone now." Ally assured.

"I can't believe this haoppened." Kristen replied.

"Hey it happens, now do you have a change of clothes? If not I have some pants that may fit you and the nurse will give you underwear." Ally explained.

"I have clothes but my mom will see I wet myself and make me carry extra clothes all the time and have the teacher ask if I need to go." Kristen explained.

"Your mom doesn't have to know." Ally assured.

"How's she not going to find out? I will come home in different clothes." Kristen asked.

"My mom is taking me to Hope Place today. I can call my mom and invite you. Then while we are there. Our maid can wash your clothes. She is really good at cleaning pee. BECAUSE MY SISTER COURTNEY WETS THE BED ALL THE TIME!" Ally yelled.

"That was a little mean." Kristen commented.

"Well she's really mean." Ally replied.

* * *

Olivia walked through the airport, with director Vance beside her. The police in Florida had called her parents and asked who would be flying back with her. Since Jimmy could not leave Breena for that long. They opted to send Vance down to get her. With him being the director of a federal agency. If anybody tried to mess with her. They would be arrested on the spot. Besides his nanny could care for the children. She could not wait to be back with Jimmy. Even though he was angry with her. She missed him. She missed her bed and being tucked in at night. She missed feeling safe and being loved. She knew now that he loved her, even though she made mistakes and did stupid things. Breena and him loved her the way that her birth parents loved her and she would never forget that. Vance and her rounded the corner and there was Jimmy.

"Jimmy! I am so! So! Sorry!" Olivia cried.

"I know you are and I am sorry that I was so hard on you. I guess I just panicked about being a single father while Breena is on bed-rest and took it out on you. It will never happen again." Jimmy replied.

"It was my fault. I knew that running away was stupid and I did it anyway." Olivia replied.

"We both made mistakes and we will deal with this as soon as we get home but I am just so relieved that your are OK." Jimmy explained.

* * *

For the first time since he was grounded for the "MikeFranks incident", Shane felt human. He wished that he had talked to Mica sooner. She always made him feel better. She was his girlfriend but more than that she was his best friend. Even better she was going ice-skating with him after he got off being grounded. She even made him feel better about going to the therapist.

* * *

The prank on Kristen went even better than Erica could have imagined. She figured that Kristen would wet herself in the bathroom and only the nurse and a few students would see her but this, this was perfect. Kristen had peed all over herself in front of everybody. The best part was that she didn't get caught. She got into a little trouble for teasing Kristen about the accident but there was no proof that she had tampered with the door.

"ERICA!" Vance snapped storming into her room.

"What?" Erica asked.

"I got a call that you were teasing Kristen, after she wet herself."Vance explained.

"Whatever she is a freak. Erica scoffed.

"You are grounded for a week and will talk about this after Jared's game." Vance warned.

"Fine!" Erica yelled.

* * *

 **A/N: At least somebody came to Kristen's rescue. As for Erica she is falling from grace but what she does to Mica will destroy her. New chapter will be up soon. aPlease review and thanks for reading.**


	15. Christmas Day

Mica woke up bright and early on Christmas morning. She remembered when she was little, her mom would wake her up and they would go get hot chocolate at the diner. Her dad tried to carry on the tradition but often times he ended up working that day. Part of her wished that he would just retire from NCIS already but part of her was proud of him for doing what he did. She was excited because so far this year he was off. Still this year would be different than her first eight had been. Because they would be celebrating over at Abby and Kristen's apartment. It was too hard for Kristen to get around their house. She was a little disappointed that she could not celebrate at her own house but she was looking forward to seeing Kristen again. Even though they were not on the best terms. She was hoping that her sister would be feeling better when they came over. She made a mental note not to bring up the accident when she saw Kris. She could imagine how embarrassed she must be but at least only one person had laughed at her. Unfortunately that one person happened to be Erica, who used to be one of her best friends.

"Merry Christmas, Mica." Gibbs greeted.

"Merry Christmas, dad." Mica replied.

"Did you sleep well?" Gibbs asked.

"Yes I did, how about you?" Mica asked.

"Pretty well, listen Abby wants us to open our gifts over there." Gibbs explained.

"Oh OK" Mica replied.

"But I figured it would be OK for you to open one over here." Gibbs replied, handing Mica a small box.

"Oh great!" Mica cred.

"I hope you like it." Gibbs replied.

"Oh! I love it!" Mica cried opening the package to reveal a photograph of her mom when she was nine, next to a picture of her when she was nine.

"I am glad you liked it. I found it when I was cleaning out the attic and thought it would be perfect for you." Gibbs replied.

"You were cleaning out the attic? We just cleaned it last summer it should be fine." Mica asked.

"The attic was still fine but well. I was going to wait to tell you this but we are going to be moving after the new year." Gibbs explained.

"What?!" Mica gasped.

"Well Abby and I want to live together as a family and this house is not exactly handicapped accessible. I thought about renovating it to be accessible for Kristen but it would but it would be easier and cheaper to just buy a new place." Gibbs explained.

"Oh OK" Mica sighed.

"Hey, I know this is hard but we can make new memories in our new place." Gibbs explained.

"I guess." Mica sighed.

"Don't let it ruin your Christmas." Gibbs replied.

"So when are you going to buy a new house?" Mica asked.

"Abby and I already bought one last week. We wanted to have everything sorted out before we broke the news to you girls." Gibbs explained.

"Oh" Mica sighed.

"Hey the good news is that you get a much bigger bedroom at the new place. It's up in the attic and it's really nice." Gibbs explained.

"The attic? Really?" Mica asked.

"Well Kristen can't get up there and Abby is in love with the master bedroom. There are a couple of extra rooms on the second floor if you want one of them but I thought of you when we saw the attic room." Gibbs explained.

"No, I love the attic room. So where is Kristen going to sleep?" Mica asked.

"We are converting the den into a room for her. It has a bathroom that is accessible and it is big enough for her equipment and therapy." Gibbs explained.

"Oh OK" Mica replied.

* * *

Kristen tapped her finger impatiently on the arm of her wheelchair. She wished that Gibbs and Mica would just get over already. She wanted to open her presents and watch "Miracle on 34th Street" but her mom wanted to wait for the rest of the family to get over. She didn't mind waiting on the gifts but she hated that she would have to share the movie. That was a Borin family tradition. Not a Gibbs family tradition.

"Kristen!" Abby B. called.

"What?" Kristen asked.

"I just wanted to let you know that it was going to be a while before we opened presents. Mica and Jethro decided to go on to the children's hospital." Abby B. explained.

"But we have to watch our movie before Christmas!" Kristen cried.

"We are going to watch Miracle on 34th Street, now. Well as soon as I get it cued up." Abby B. replied.

"What about Gibbs and Mica?" Kristen asked.

"Jethro and I decided that at least for this year our separate families would each keep one tradition for just that part of the family." Abby B. explained.

"Oh good! That is awesome!" Kristen cried.

* * *

Erica angrily kicked the sweater she had been given across her bedroom. This was hands down the worst Christmas of her entire life. Kayla had gotten a car, Jared had got a new flat screen TV for his bedroom and she had got a a sweater. All because she was grounded. She was supposed to only be grounded for a week, for laughing at Kristen. Then the school had called, they had footage of her putting gum in the lock of the handicapped stall and now she was grounded for three whole months. It was completely unfair. Her dad had totally over reacted. She hated him. She wished that he was dead instead of her mom. Her mom would have never grounded her for this long. She looked out her window and saw her dad and siblings getting in the car to go to Abby's Scuito's house for Christmas dinner but she was stuck with the nanny, because shew as grounded. It wasn't fair. It was just a stupid joke. It wasn't her fault Kristen had a weak bladder.

"Merry Christmas" Eric scoffed under her breath.

* * *

Shane looked at his grandmother who was half sitting up in her rocking chair. She was so old and sick. Her health had deteriorated greatly since Thanksgiving. Part of him was worried it was because of the Facebook post but his mom had assured him that it was just her illness. She had MS, dementia, and had beat lung cancer twice. Now the cancer was apparently back and nobody knew how long she had. Shane was sad but it would feel good to be able to tell Mica the truth. He would never tell anyone that part but it was all he took solace in.

"Merry Christmas, Shane. You are so much like my Mike. I loved him but he did not feel the same. Please do not do that to your Mica." Rose said.

"Merry Christmas grandma, I love you and I will never act that way." Shane vowed.

* * *

Olivia hugged Cody close to her. This Christmas had been absolutely amazing. She was on restriction for another two weeks for the incident but at least she was back with the Palmer's. Cody and her had been showered with gifts. Mostly just simple things but they had each got one big gift and even the clothes were special to her. She loved being part of a family. She loved being part of this family. Even better by next Christmas she would have a brother or sister a Donald Edward or a Victoria Elizabeth would be about four months old and make the family perfect and complete. She could not wait, especially since that would mean that Breena wouldn't be sick anymore. Poor Breena had to stay in bed, even when they opened gifts but the family had gone into her room. So that they could be with her.

"Merry Christmas, Cody" Olivia said.

"Christmas, Livy!" Cody cried.

"I love you." Olivia replied.

"Love you too, Livy." Cody replied.

* * *

It was later in the evening and the Gibbs girls were in the living room laughing and playing with the toys they had received. It was nice to see Kristen so relaxed and happy. She had been in a funk recently but Abby and Jethro prayed that she would be out of it soon. Maybe she was even out of it by now. Maybe all she needed was a little family time. While the girls played, Abby and Jethro were cleaning up the kitchen.

"Jethro?" Abby B. asked meekly.

"What is it?" Jethro asked.

"Now that the girls are distracted. I thought I would give you your gift." Abby B. replied.

"Are you sure? The walls are pretty thin." Jethro asked.

"It's not that. It's this." Abby B. replied dropping a small red and green package into his hands.

"Well this looks interesting." Jethro commented opening the paper.

"Well?" Abby B. asked.

"Oh My God. Are... are you sure?" Jethro asked.

"Positive" Abby B. replied.

"Abby, this is amazing." Jethro replied, voice cracking.

* * *

 **A/N: What was Abby B's gift to Gibbs? New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.**


	16. Last Day Of Break

It was the last day of Christmas break and Mica was spending it at Kristen's riding show. She was a little disappointed that she couldn't do exactly what she wanted to do but she was excited to see what Kristen had learned. She had only been on the Paraplegic Riding Team for a few weeks but the show was more of an open house than a competition. So even the most novice students qualified. Not that Kristen was unqualified. Mica had seen videos of her and she was amazing. Mica had been riding since she could walk and she could still walk and she was terrible compared to Kristen. Admittedly she was a little jealous but she was more happy that Kristen was feeling better. She had been really depressed lately. Her dad walked up to her carrying a Styrofoam tray carrying cups of coffee and hot chocolate. He handed her a cup of hot chocolate, Abby B. a cup of what she assumed was coffee, and took the last two cups for himself.

"Kristen's group doesn't go on until four. So if you want to go, for a bit you can. Just remember to get a hand-stamp so they don't charge you again." Abby B. offered.

"That's fine, this has been interesting so far." Gibbs replied.

"Yeah it has but can I go to the bathroom, real quick?" Mica asked.

"Yeah, just take my phone so you can call your dad if you get lost." Abby B. replied.

"OK" Kristen replied, taking the phone from her future step-mom.

"Don't text or run up her data bill!" Gibbs called.

"I won't." Mica assured.

* * *

Shane studied his new "Naval Vessels" calender. Just three more days until he was finally off restriction. That had been the longest month of his life. He could not wait to go ice-skating with Mica and be able to ride his bike and watch TV again. He wished that his mom would believe that he had not made that post but it was in the past and he had been forgiven.

"Shane!" Debbie called.

"What is it, mom?" Shane asked.

"Did you get all of your homework done?" Debbie asked.

"Yes" Shane replied.

"Really, can I go over it?" Debbie asked.

"Fine" Shane sighed.

* * *

Erica slammed her fist into her wall. She was sick of being grounded. She was sick of being stuck in her room. She could not wait to get back to school and be back with the people who understood her. Even better when she got back to school. She would hear the prank her new friends wanted her to play on Mica. She was most excited about the prank on Mica. For one Mica was mad at her for the way that she had treated Kristen but even better than that. According to Courtney, Albania, Lucile and Pamela. The prank they pulled on Mica would be the best one. It would also be the most complicated and intense. She could not wait to hear what it was and pull it. She hoped that it would make Mica cry. It was such a rush to see the people she pranked cry.

"Erica!" Vance called.

"What?" Erica asked annoyed.

"I thought I told you to take the trash out!" Vance snapped.

"I thought I told you that I did not want to to do it!" Erica snapped.

"Is it really wise to mouth off to me?" Vance asked.

"What are you going to do, old man?" Erica asked.

"That's it!" Vance cried, grabbing Erica and slapping her hard on the butt.

"Why would you do that?" Erica asked.

"Because I am sick and tired of this new attitude of yours!" Vance replied.

"It's not attitude! It's called being cool!" Erica snapped.

"There is nothing cool about being a bully." Vance replied.

"I am not a bully. I am a cool kid, a rebel." Erica argued.

"No Erica, you are a bully." Vance corrected.

"Fuck you! You stupid, old, ni...!" Erica yelled just as a girl in Jared's video game let out a blood curdling scream.

"Erica Vance! Where did you here that word?!" Vance demanded.

"None of your bussiness." Erica spat.

"Actually yes it is, that is a very rude word and I will not have any of my children using it." Vance explained.

"Oh shut-up! Nobody cares!" Erica snapped.

* * *

Olivia sat on the arm of her couch and watched Jimmy folding onesiees and other baby clothes. Breena was still really sick but she was doing better. Her blood pressure had gone down and her mourning sickness was subsiding. She was still on bed-rest but she could get up for a few hours each day and spend time with her family. The Palmer's had been wanting a baby of their own for so long and had been buying baby clothes almost as long. Olivia wondered if they would actually end up with too many baby clothes. Jimmy had been folding for almost an hour and that was the newborn to three months size clothes.

"Hey, Jimmy?" Olivia called.

"What is it, Livy?" Jimmy asked.

"What if you have too many baby clothes?" Olivia asked.

"Well actually Breena and I both have a few friends who are expecting as well and we are going to give them some of the outfits we don't like as much." Jimmy explained.

"Really? Who's pregnant?" Olivia asked.

"I can't say just yet." Jimmy replied.

* * *

Kristen's helper Mary, helped her onto her horse Cooper. Even though she was actually really good at riding. Almost as good as some of the intermediate and advanced riders. She was still really nervous about the competition. She tended to choke under pressure. Mary patted her arm and assured her that it would be fine. The announcer called that it was time for the riders to enter the ring and she instructed cooper to walk. The beginning riders, just rode around the ring a few times, demonstrating how they got the horses to walk, trot, and run and do a few very basic jumps. The group walked around once, trotted once, and ran once in that order. Then the more novice and nervous riders rode out of the ring, before the jumping began. Part of her wanted to leave but she knew that her mom would be disappointed if she didn't jump. She instructed Cooper to run towards the fence. He started to run and Kristen signaled for him to jump. He started to make the jump, when something spooked him. He panicked and bucked. Kristen let out a scream as she started to fly through the air. She landed hard on her back almost three feet away from where she had started.

"Kristen!" Abby B. called jumping from her seat and running down the bleachers.

"Oh My God!" Gibbs yelled, throwing his coffee down and taking off after Abby B.

* * *

 **A/N: Will Kristen be OK? New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.**


	17. Possible Miracle

Mica leaned over and picked up a magazine off the top of the stack. Waiting room magazines were always so old, dirty, and boring. The one she had happened to pick was a pregnancy and childbirth magazine. The date had faded away on the wrinkled cover but Mica guessed that it must be ancient. Because it talked about ultrasound technology becoming available in more and more hospitals and doctor's offices. Mica thumbed through the magazine and the more she read. The more she did not want to have a baby. From what she read it hurt to be pregnant, it hurt to give birth and sometimes they had to cut the baby out of you. She wrinkled her nose and tossed the magazine back on the stack and picked up an ancient copy of "Shape" Magazine. It was supposed to be a woman's wellness magazine but it looked more like the magazines that Tony used to keep on the top shelf behind a few boring looking old black and white movies. Still it was better than the copy of Highlights that was covered by snot dating back to the Reagan era. She hated hospital waiting rooms. They were always so boring and smelly. She wished that she could be at home right now but everybody was at the hospital. They were all waiting for news about Kristen who had been thrown from her horse at the riding demonstration. Mica did want news on her half -sister but she also just wanted to be at home. She was starving and tired. It was getting late and she had school in the morning. Across from her Ducky stood up, stretched, said something the her dad who was sitting on the love-seat beside Ducky's chair. Trying his hardest to calm Abby Borin down. Her dad nodded and Ducky walked towards her.

"Come along Micheala. I am going to take you home." Ducky replied.

"Are you sure? I mean don't you want to wait for news?" Mica asked.

"It is quite alright. Your father said that he would call me as soon as he heard anything but I am getting too old to stay out this late and you have school in the morning. We missed the cafeteria. I'm afraid but we can pick up something quick on the way home." Ducky explained.

"OK but only if you are sure." Mica replied.

"I am certain, unless of course you want to stay but you were looking so bored and tired." Ducky replied.

"No I don't mind. I just don't want to make you leave." Mica replied.

* * *

Erica tiptoed down the hall, past Jared and Kayla's rooms. Past where her nanny was sleeping on the couch. It was late at night and her dad was at the hospital with Gibbs and Abby Borin. Kristen had been in an accident and was hurt really bad. Jared and Kayla were really worried and upset but Erica was kind of relieved. Her dad had gotten the call in the middle of lecturing her. He hadn't even had time to deliver her punishment when he got called away. Even better Jared and Kayla and the nanny always fell asleep so early. So Erica might just get to see her friends before school started back, after all. She looked at her watch. It was only nine and at least Lucile had a later bedtime. She opened the door, walked out, and let the door close softly behind her. She walked around to the side of the house, grabbed her bike, climbed on, and started to ride away.

"Erica!" Jared barked.

"What? Oh Jared, I was sleep walking." Erica replied.

"You don't sleepwalk." Jared remarked.

"It just started." Erica replied.

"Sleepwalkers do not usually make sure to be extra quiet." Jared replied.

"OK you caught me but what are you going to do?" Erica asked.

"Call dad" Jared replied.

"Why would you do that?" Erica asked.

"You were sneaking out! You could have been killed!" Jared snapped.

"So?" Erica asked getting back on her bike and peddling away.

"ERICA!" Jared snapped, getting on his bike and peddling after Erica.

* * *

Shane drank the last of his water, crushed the paper bathroom cup, and tossed it in the trash. He walked down the hall towards his room. He walked past Tara's room, she was sound asleep, cupping a picture of the latest tween heartthrob in her hands. "Teenage girls are so weird." Shane thought as he walked down the hall. He passed his mom's room and saw her sitting up in bed.

"Everything OK, mom?" Shane asked.

"Fine just getting ready for a smoke break." Debbie replied.

"Gross" Shane replied.

"Be nice, Shane." Debbie replied.

"You do know that Mica has asthma right. You can't smoke near her." Shane replied.

"Then you'll have to play at her house." Debbie remarked.

"Fine" Shane sighed.

* * *

Olivia kicked the blankets off of her body. She was too hot and she wanted it to be morning already. With any luck by morning there would be news on Kristen. Ducky had promised to call Jimmy as soon as there was news. Jimmy couldn't really leave Breena and even if he could. It would be nearly impossible to get a babysitter for late at night, last minute. She heard Cody, crying in his room, across the hall. She pulled herself out of bed and walked across the hall. She picked up her brother up off of his toddler bed and held him in her arms.

"Don't worry, Cody it will be OK." Olivia assured.

* * *

Abby Borin fought the urge to vomit. She wished that it were just her fighting off morning sickness but it was not. She was worried about her older daughter. Kristen had been thrown from a horse the day before. Overall she had gotten lucky. Only suffering a moderate concussion, internal and external bruising, a ruptured spleen, a broken leg, and most terrifyingly a back injury. She was going to live but the doctors did not know what effects the back injury would have. All they could do was wait for her to wake up. Finally around seven in the morning she blinked her eyes and she turned towards by her mother.

"Kristen? Are you with me?" Abby B. asked.

"Uh-huh" Kristen replied.

"How do you feel?" Abby B. asked.

"OK, I guess but my leg really hurts." Kristen replied.

"What did you say?" Abby B. asked.

"My leg, it really hurts." Kristen replied.

* * *

 **A/N: Did Kristen experience a miracle or is it just some psychological effect? New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.**


	18. Hope

To Mica it felt like the day was never going to end. All she wanted to do was get home and find out what was going on with Kristen. Before school, Ducky had told her that he didn't know anything. Which pretty much meant that he knew exactly what was going on but he wasn't going to tell her anything until she got home. She hoped that didn't mean that the news was really bad. What if Kristen had died? No, that couldn't be it. Surely somebody would have told her if Kristen had died but what if she was really hurt? What if her paralysis had gotten worse or she had brain damage? Mica hated that her only living sister had been hurt so many times. She didn't know what she would do if Kristen couldn't play with her or just talk with her anymore. Not that Mica and Kristen had done much talking lately. She would be hurt but Kristen seemed to be snubbing everyone and she just seemed different. She had gotten a little more relaxed since she started going to Hope Place but she still wasn't the Kristen, that Mica had met at the start of the third grade. There was still a couple more hours left in the school day but it time for recess. Maybe, Mica could get answers out of Olivia. She was sure that Jimmy would be in the loop.

"Hey Olivia!" Mica called as she walked onto the playground.

"Oh hi, Mica." Olivia replied.

"Have your heard anything about Kristen?" Mica asked.

"No, Gibbs called this morning but Jimmy was really busy with Cody and Breena and didn't have time to answer his phone." Olivia explained.

"Oh" Mica sighed.

"I am worried too but I am sure that she is going to be fine." Olivia assured.

"Yeah, you're right. I am sure that they would have told us if it were really bad." Mica replied.

"Exactly, now come on let's go play on the slide. Recess will be over before we know it." Olivia replied.

"Yeah, you're right." Mica replied.

* * *

Kristen sat up in her hospital bed. Actually sat up, as in on her own. After spending over a year in a wheelchair. The fall from her horse. Had caused her to regain feeling on her legs. The doctors were baffled but amazed. She had been getting tests off an on all day but so far there was still no definite answer but they suspected that she had, had a fragment from the bullet left in her spine and the fall had caused the shrapnel to come loose. She was scheduled to have an exploratory surgery later that afternoon. She didn't care why she could walk again. She was just happy that she could. She had nothing against wheelchair users but she had been miserable the year she spent in one. She tried to be happy but it was impossible. She wondered how people like Delilah could suddenly become disabled and still be so happy. Then again she always had been on the pessimistic side but she was also optimistic. Her grandmother always called her a realist.

"Oh Kristen! I am just so happy! This is a true miracle!" Abby B. cried as she ran into her daughter's room.

"Yeah, I am excited too." Kristen replied.

"I bet you are." Abby B. replied.

"Yeah I am so excited to be able to walk again!" Kristen replied.

"Now you know that even though you have feeling back. You are going to need a lot of rehab before you can walk independently again and even with that. You may still have a limp or trouble with balancing." Abby B. explained.

"At least I'll be able to walk. It will be nice to have some independence back." Kristen replied.

"That's my girl." Abby B. replied.

* * *

Shane was home from school and he had gotten most of his homework done. His restriction was almost over and he wanted to make sure. That it was a long time before he got put on again. He could not wait to be able to play with Mica again. She had seemed really upset in school that day and eh had spent all day. Wishing that he could invite her over. Then when her dad came to get her. It became clear that something was going on. He asked his mom about it but she didn't know anything. Maybe she could call Gibbs later.

"Did you finish your homework?" Debbie asked.

"Yes, mam" Shane replied.

"Let me see it." Debbie replied.

"Here you go." Shane replied.

"OK, you're all good. Do you want to go with me to the store and to pick Tara up from choir practice. We can get some ice-cream if you want but just a small cup. Because it's close to dinner time." Debbie offered.

"What's the catch?" Shane asked.

"There is no catch. You were very well behaved on your restriction and you have gotten good about doing your homework on time. So you are now off restriction." Debbie replied.

"Really? I am?!" Shane asked.

"Yes you are son." Debbie replied.

"YES!" Shane cried.

* * *

Ducky had to do an autopsy for NCIS. So Olivia was stuck going to the doctors with Jimmy and Breena. Breena had to go to the OBG/YN every week due to her complications. Olivia was glad that her adoptive mother was getting good care but sitting around a doctor's office was just so boring. Even worse the appointment was taking forever. She just wanted to go home and watch TV. At least she had gotten all of her homework done. Even the extra credit problems that was how long she had been waiting.

* * *

Erica was beyond furious. Because Jared had ratted on her, her punishment had been extended by almost a month. Even worse, her dad had taken her bike and put it in his office at NCIS. He had taken all the fun stuff out of her room too. It was just her bed, dresser, bookshelf, and desk. No toys, no interesting books, no laptop, no nothing. It was almost like a prison. She wasn't supposed to leave the house except to go to school and church but their was nobody to babysit her. So she was stuck going to the traitor's soccer game. Even in the great outdoors she was tethered to her dad. She was lucky he let her to to the girl's room on her own. She didn't even really have to go. She just wanted five minutes to do what she wanted to do.

"OMG! ERRIICCAAAAAAAAAA!" Lucile squealed.

"Oh hi, Lucile." Erica replied.

"Where were you last night?" Lucile asked.

"My brother caught me and ratted me out." Erica replied.

"What a creep." Lucile replied rolling her eyes.

"I know, right?" Erica asked.

"Well we were going to tell you about Mica's prank last night but I suppose that I can just tell you now." Lucile said.

"Oh yes! Tell me! Tell me!" Erica cried.

"You know how the class is going to go to Mrs. Tucker's, sister's farm out in Pennsylvania next Friday? To learn about farm life in the winter?" Lucile asked.

"The one with the big man made pond we may get to ice skate on?" Erica asked.

"Yes" Lucile replied.

"Then yeah, why? What are we going to do?" Erica asked.

"Let's just say that Mica is going to have a little accident on the frozen pond." Lucile replied.

"Are we going to drown her?" Erica asked, actually a little concerned.

"No, we are just going to put the fear of God in her." Lucile replied smirking.

* * *

 **A/N: Will Erica go through the prank on Mica? New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.**


	19. Too Far

Mica had been looking forward to this day for a long time. The farm field trip was the best part about being in Mrs. Tucker's class. It was so exciting, she didn't mind having to get up at six in the morning to leave for the trip. They would get to bring home canned vegetables and fruits from the farm and get to help out with a few of the more basic chores. Even better it had snowed two nights before and the temperature hadn't risen any since. That meant the pond was frozen and that meant that they could go ice-skating. Mica absolutely adored ice-skating. She was supposed to go with Shane and his family the weekend before but he had hurt his ankle, playing soccer. So they went to the movies for the Saturday afternoon half price double feature instead. She grabbed the bag that contained her ice-skates, a change of clothes in case she got wet, her sack lunch, and her inhaler and walked off the bus. The tour of the farm and agricultural lesson was much more exciting then she anticipated. Before she knew it it was time to go out to the barn and eat lunch.

"Are you excited to go ice-skating after lunch?" Shane asked.

"Of course I am! Aren't you?" Mica asked.

"I can't skate my ankle is still hurting." Shane replied.

"Oh I am sorry, do you want me to sit out with you?"Mica asked.

"No! You need to skate! I already ruined it for you last weekend." Shane replied.

"OK, well I hope you ankle feels better soon." Mica said.

"Me too, it hurts a lot." Shane replied.

* * *

Kristen flipped through the channels. She had been out of the hospital for a week and back in school since Monday. Unfortunately she had to miss the field trip to the farm. Between an early rehab appointment and the farm really not being accessible for her wheelchair. She had no choice but to stay home. She was caught up on her homework and there would be no work that day at least none that she could really do. The bright side was that she could just sit around and watch television and with her mom back at the office. She could watch whatever she wanted.

"How are you feeling, Kristen?" Jody, her babysitter and neighbor asked.

"A little bored but good." Kristen replied.

"Sad about missing the trip?" Jody asked.

"Yeah" Kristen sighed.

"I'm sorry" Jody apologized.

"It's OK, Mica said she'd take pictures, bring me some jarred vegetables, and a surprise." Kristen explained.

"You have a really great sister." Jody replied.

"I do." Kristen agreed.

* * *

When lunch was over, Mica walked with her classmates to the pond. She put on her skates and stepped onto the pond. It felt so amazing to be skating on a real pond. Until now she had only been ice-skating on man made rinks at parks and other tourist places. She wasn't the best skater on the planet but she was better then a lot of the kids in her class. Including poor Olivia who was struggling to stay on her feet. Erica however was a real pro but she had been ice-skating since she could walk and had even been in a few competitions. Erica whizzed past her and shouted for her to follow. Mica smiled and followed behind her friend. It had been so long since Erica had even acknowledged her. She excitedly followed her friend until she saw that Erica was skating towards the back, far end of the lake, that was sectioned off by a piece of red ribbon. Mica knew that meant that the ice was thin and people were not supposed to skate there. Mica tried to turn but Erica grabbed her hood and shoved her towards the ribbon. Mica struggled to keep on her feet as she whizzed towards the ribbon. She tried to turn but it was too late. She went flying through the ribbon and heard the ice cracking underneath her. She tried to turn but the ice was too thin. The ice gave out underneath her and she crashed through into the water. Normally she was a very strong swimmer but she the ice water was unlike anything she had experienced before. She could hear people screaming her name as she fell into the darkness.

* * *

Shane watched in horror as his girlfriend fell through the ice. It had happened in slow motion, Erica had shoved her across the ice and she had gone flying into the thin ice. Now she was trapped underneath. He watched helplessly as Mrs. Tucker's brother in law raced towards the pond and dove in after Mica. He emerged several seconds later with Mica lying limply in his arms. She was blue, Shane knew that meant that she was not breathing. Mr. Joe or whatever his name was set Mica on the ground and began doing CPR on her. Shane fell to the ground, he had tears in his eyes.

"Please don't die, Mica." Shane begged.

* * *

Olivia could not believe what was happening. One minute she had been struggling to stay on her feet, Mrs. Tucker's niece Angie had been holding her hand to help her skate around the rink. The all of the sudden the adults were yelling for the kids to get off of the ice. Olivia was confused until she saw Mr. Jay emerging from the water with Mica in his arms. She looked around, everybody looked terrified, and Shane was crying.

"Is Mica going to be OK?" Olivia asked, Angie.

"I hope so, Livy." Angie replied.

* * *

Erica never imagined that a prank could go this wrong nor did she think that a prank could make her feel so guilty. Mica was so badly hurt, she wasn't breathing. She had never meant to hurt anybody with one of her pranks. Olivia had, had trouble, Shane had gotten grounded, and Kristen had wet herself. Because of the pranks but nobody had ever really been hurt before. At least not until now. She looked around and saw that Pamela, Courtney, Albania, and Lucile were laughing. How could they laugh? Mica could die. Mr. Jay had gotten her breathing but she still looked bad. The paramedics arrived and rushed over to Mica's side but the medics were not the only ones. There were also two police officers. Erica didn't think that her heart could beat faster nor did she think that she could be anymore terrified. Then she already was but then the officer approached her. Erica tried to run but the cops chased after her and made her turn around.

"M...May I help you, officer?" Erica asked.

"Your teacher said that she saw you push Mica Gibbs into the thin ice." The officer replied.

"I...I didn't think that she would get so hurt." Erica sobbed.

"I am sorry but we still have to bring you to your parents." The officer replied.

* * *

 **A/N: Will Mica be OK? Just how much trouble is Erica in? New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.**


	20. Gut Feeling

Gibbs sat at his desk, trying his best to pretend that nothing was wrong but his gut was churning. He just knew that something terrible was going to happen or had already happened. That feeling had been with him all day. He wished that he had not let Mica go on that stupid farm trip. He knew that he had become over protective of her but ever since she had been diagnosed with asthma but there was just so much to worry about. They were completely different but Mica's asthma reminded him too much of Tony's plague scarred lungs. Even though ultimately Tony's lungs had nothing to do with his death. They had certainly come close enough times. Mica had almost died when she got her asthma diagnosis. If he hadn't of found her when he did. She wouldn't be here right now. It was all so nerve wracking. He had asked Mica if she had her inhaler fifty times that morning and she must have shown it to him thirty times but it still worried him. What if she had dropped it in the classroom or on the bus? He knew that she would have never forgiven him if he had made her miss that field trip. She had been looking forward to his trip for months now. It wouldn't have been right to make her miss the trip. He should have at least volunteered to be a chaperon on the trip. His team didn't have any open cases right now and he had vacation days left. So unless it was a matter of national security. There was nothing really stopping him from taking a personal day. He was snapped back to reality by the sound of his desk phone ringing. He reached over and picked the phone off of it's cradle. Expecting it just to be another case.

"Gibbs"

"This is Darrell Ross from New Mercy Hospital. Are you Jethro Gibbs? Father of Micheala Ann Gibbs?"

"Yeah, she's my daughter. Why?"

"Michaela was brought in after falling through the ice while skating on a pond at a near by farm."

"Shit. Is she OK?"

"She was not breathing when she was pulled from the pond but one of the farm's residents did CPR and got her breathing again pretty quick. Right now she is on a ventilator as a precaution and we are watching her for developing pneumonia and she has mild hypothermia."

"What hospital are you, again?"

"New Mercy"

"Yeah I will be right there."

* * *

McGee and Bishop watched curiously as Gibbs spoke on the phone. Their boss had been in a bad mood all day. Granted Gibbs was usually in a bad mood but this was a special kind of bad mood. The kind of bad mood that meant that something bad was going to happen. Gibbs got extra anxious and moody when his gut was acting up. It was almost like a warning that doom was coming. When the phone rang they were expecting it just to be a case and made sure that their gear was on hand. Then they heard Gibbs say "Yes she is my daughter." They knew that something must be wrong with Mica because if it were Kristen, Abby Borin would have made the call. There was silence and then Gibbs asked if she was OK. More silence and then Gibbs asked what hospital she was at. After more silence Gibbs said that he would be right there and then ran from the bullpen. Without saying a single word to her team. Knowing that there was only one place that Gibbs would stop, before leaving for the hospital. McGee and Bishop took the stairs down to autopsy. Gibbs was already in their by the time they arrived. He was sobbing into Ducky's chest. The older man had his arms wrapped protectively around Jethro's shoulders. Jimmy stepped away from his post beside Ducky and approached the team.

"What's going on?" McGee asked.

"Mica fell through the ice on her field trip. She is at the hospital in Pennsylvania." Jimmy explained.

"Is she OK?" Bishop asked.

"I don't know." Jimmy replied.

* * *

Gibbs wished that Ducky would drive faster, he just wanted to be with his baby girl. She was really sick in the hospital and he wanted to be holding her. The man he had talked to on the phone had said that, they were not sure if Mica would live or not. He was terrified by the thought of losing another child. He had already lost his first daughter and his surrogate son. Mica was his gift from Shannon and Kelly. After all he had endured. He had been rewarded with a beautiful baby girl. A new Gibbs was on the way in seven months and he knew that this child was a gift from Tony. If Abby Borin and him had another child. He did not want that baby to be a gift from Mica. Was this how his life was, did he have to lose one child to gain another? If that was the case he would make sure that Abby B. and him never had another child. After the one she was currently pregnant with. Then he had a horrible thought what if this child _was_ a replacement for Mica? No! He had to stop thinking like that. Mica would be fine. She had to be, she just had to. She was Mica, she was strong. Just like him. Just like her mother. She wasn't going to die because she fell through some thin ice. She may be sick but she would beat the odds and pull through. Before he knew it she would be helping them get ready for her new brother or sister. In their new home, where they could live as one big happy family.

"Please be OK, baby girl. Please, I need you." Gibbs pleaded aloud.

"She will be just fine Jethro. You will see." Ducky assured.

"I know" Gibbs replied, praying that it was true and not just him giving himself false assurance.

* * *

 **A/N: I thought it would be good to dedicate one chapter to Gibbs dealing with the news. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.**


	21. Terrified

It had been a long time, since Gibbs felt legitimate fear. He had been concerned a few times and even scared. Those were natural feelings in his line of work and even more for a father and fiancee but right now. He was, purely terrified. Mica was so young, only nine. Only a year older than Kelly was when she died. He remembered the feeling of joy he felt when she celebrated her ninth birthday. She had gotten past the "year of death" as he called it. He didn't know why he had convinced himself that if Mica lived past eight. There was no way that he would outlive her but somehow he had. It was a feeling he hated having but he couldn't help but wonder about Mica's accident. He had a sinking suspicion that this was not an accident. Mica had never been in ice-skating on a real pond before but she was always really careful. She would never skate onto thin ice. He had a bad feeling that she had been pushed. He leaned against the window and took deep breaths as Ducky sped to the hospital. Abby B. had been called, the team knew, and Leon had granted him time off. He could just focus on his daughter the rest of the day. Gibbs and Ducky arrived to the hospital and Gibbs rushed inside.

"Who are you looking for?" The receptionist asked.

"My daughter Mica." Gibbs replied.

"Full name?" The receptionist asked.

"Micheala Anne Gibbs" Gibbs replied.

"Just a moment." The receptionist replied with false cheerfulness.

This was it, any minute now. A doctor was going to come out of the room with bad news. The worst news actually, Mica was dead. He just knew it. Mica was dead. He had lost another one. He fell into a chair and just as he started to cry a police officer approached him.

"Are you, Mica's father?" The officer asked.

"Yes" Gibbs replied.

"Your daughter is alive but there is something you should know about her accident." The officer replied.

"What?" Gibbs asked.

"She was shoved by her classmate." The officer replied.

"Who?" Gibbs asked.

"Erica Vance" The officer replied.

"What?!" Gibbs demanded.

* * *

Kristen blinked her eyes open. She had fallen asleep just after lunch and it was now almost time for dinner. It had been months since she had slept that long, during the day anyway. Years if she didn't include the hours she spent sleeping when she was under the influence of pain killers. She pulled herself from her bed to the wheelchair, that ideally she would only be in for a few more months. She rolled herself into the kitchen and saw that Jody was still there and was cooking dinner for the two of them.

"Oh does my mom have to work late?" Kristen asked.

"No" Jody replied.

"Then why are you making dinner for us?" Kristen asked.

"Your sister was in an accident and your mom had to go up Pennsylvania to be with her." Jody explained.

"Mica was in an accident? Is she OK?" Kristen asked.

"I don't know." Jody replied.

"Well, what happened?" Kristen asked.

"She fell through the ice on her field trip." Jody replied.

"Can I go see her?" Kristen asked.

"I think that she is in the ICU right now but I am sure they will take you as soon as they can." Jody explained.

"I hope that she will be OK." Kristen sighed.

"I am sure that she will be." Jody assured.

* * *

Olivia sat with her back to Jimmy and Breena's door. Breena's blood-pressure was back up and she did not know about Mica's accident. Ducky had driven Gibbs up to Pennsylvania and the rest of the team had followed behind. Except for Jimmy who could not leave Breena's side. Olivia knew exactly what Jimmy knew. Mica was critical and they didn't know anything else yet. That meant that they didn't know if Mica would live or not. Olivia did not want to lose anybody else. The worst part, Erica had shoved her. If Mica died, then Erica was a murder.

* * *

Shane wondered how everybody could be so calm. Mica was fighting for her life in the hospital and everybody was acting like it was just fine. He couldn't even go see her. Even if his mom were willing to drive all the way to Pennsylvania. Mica was in the ICU and kids were not allowed to visit the ICU. Not even family members.

"Hi Shane" Tara said entering the room.

"Hey" Shane muttered.

"Mom told me about your girlfriend." Tara remarked.

"I suppose that you are going to make fun of me." Shane sighed.

"Why would I make fun of you?" Tara asked.

"I don't know! You would tease me about how she was dying or something!" Shane snapped.

"It's never funny when somebody you love dies but Mica is not going to die." Tara assured.

* * *

Erica had never been in trouble like this before. She didn't even know that kids could get into trouble like this. She had been cuffed by the police officer, put in the back of the car, and taken to the police station. Upon arrival she was taken back to a jail cell. It was just a holding cell and she was alone but it was still terrifying. She waited for hours but she heard her dad's voice and he was furious. Hours later the cell door slid open and she was escorted out to a small room. Her dad was waiting for her along with another cop. Her dad looked furious but also like he had been crying.

"Sit!" The officer instructed.

"Do I get to go home?" Erica asked.

"Yes but you need to tell us why you shoved, Mica." The officer explained.

"It was supposed to be a joke. I didn't think she would get so hurt. "I thought she would just fall through the ice." Erica explained.

"That's not a funny joke." The officer remarked.

"I know that now but they assured me that it would be funny." Erica explained.

"Who's they?" The officer asked.

"Lucile Montcaire, Pamela Jones, Courtney Reese, and Albania Salinger" Erica replied.

"We will talk to them but that doesn't get you off the hook." The officer replied.

"It doesn't?" Erica asked.

"Gibbs decided not to press charges but the school has expelled you." The officer explained.

"Where am I going to go to school?" Erica asked.

"Rhode Island Military Academy" Vance replied.

* * *

 **A/N: As much as I love Mica and the gang. I am losing interest in this story. The next chapter will be the last. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.**


	22. Changes

Spring brought many changes for Mica and her friends. Mica was looking forward to becoming a big sister. Kristen was excited about being a sister too but more than anything. She was excited about learning to walk again. She was doing really well in rehab and was now walking with only the aide of a cane. Her doctor said that she may always need the cane but she didn't mind so much. Shane's mom had started dating a new man named, Brett. Shane loved him and he adored Shane. Erica was away at military school and everybody at school was furious with her. The mean girls hated her for ratting them out and everybody else hated her for trying to kill Mica. Gibbs had chosen to press charges against the other girls in Mica's new group. Because they showed no remorse when they finally admitted to putting Erica up to the prank. Olivia was getting a new sibling too but Breena's pregnancy had been riddled with complications and she was going give birth via C-Section and have a hysterectomy afterwords. To ensure that she would never get pregnant again.

* * *

April seventh was the wedding day of Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Abigail Lynette Borin. Abby B's second cousin was going to be the flower girl and Mica, Kristen, Olivia, Abby Scuito were serving as bridesmaids with Ziva as the maid of honor. Shane was the ring bearer and Ducky was Gibbs's best man with McGee serving as head usher. The rest of the Palmer family was unable to attend due to Cody's ear infection and Breena still being on bed-rest. It was two hours before the wedding and all the girls and Shane were sitting in Abby B's dressing room.

"Are you excited about marrying Mica's dad?" Shane asked.

"Very much so." Abby B. replied.

"How's the baby doing today?" Olivia asked.

"Good, we find out the gender next Monday." Abby B. replied.

"I want a little brother." Mica admitted.

"Well I want another little sister." Kristen replied.

"I just want a healthy baby." Abby B. replied.

"That''s what I want for Breena's baby." Olivia sighed.

"I am sure that it will be just fine." Abby B. assured.

"Abby B's right." Shane agreed.

* * *

Gibbs was down the hall but it was just him, Ducky, and McGee in the room. Gibbs was ecstatic to be marrying Abby Borin. She was the first woman he had loved since Mica's mom and now they were finally getting married. Even better in four and a half months they would be welcoming a new Gibbs into the world. He had missed the births of all three of his older children. So it was very important to him that he be present for the birth. Though he did feel guilty about missing Kelly, Kristen, and Michaela's births. As excited as he was about the baby. He tried to focus on the wedding today. It had been planned fairly hastily after Abby discovered that she was pregnant but it was still perfect. His babies were bridesmaids and his best friend was his best man. With all his other close friends serving in one way or another. Jimmy had helped decorate the night before and had planned the bachelor party since Ducky wasn't fond of planning parties. As wonderful as today was. There was one thing keeping it from being perfect. Tony wasn't there to be his best man.

"He's here with you boss." McGee assured.

"He was the one who made me go back to be with Tori and Mica. Tony was the one who convinced me to pressure a relationship with Abby Borin. Tony was the one who risked his ass to protect my surviving daughters. " Gibbs explained.

"And now Anthony is here with you. Protecting you and your family. He kept Michaela going after she fell into the pond and he helped Kristen learn to walk again." Ducky explained.

"If the baby is a boy. We are naming it Anthony." Gibbs replied.

"I am sure that he would love that tribute." Ducky replied.

"He would" Gibbs sighed.

* * *

Erica was miserable, in military school. Her new friends refused to talk to her because she had ratted them out and her old friends hated her because of what she did to Mica. Even worse her dad and Jared and Kayla were furious with her. They came to visit but they always seemed so disappointed and upset with her. It broke her heart. She never wanted to hurt anybody. She just wanted to make her friends laugh and fit in. All she wanted was to fit in and now she was alone. She would be spending the next nine years in this place and she was determined to reinvent herself. Into someone that her dad and siblings would be proud of. Somebody her old friend would be willing to forgive. Somebody who proved that good could triumph over evil and that people could change.

* * *

Jimmy was worried for his wife. Breena was only six months pregnant but she had already gone into labor once. Thankfully the doctors had been able to stop it but they couldn't promise that they would be able to stop it next time. She had been on bed rest the entire pregnancy and it was highly unlikely that she would get off before giving birth. She would be having a C-Section at thirty seven weeks and then the doctors would ensure that she would never have another pregnancy. They had Olivia, Cody and the new baby. Their family was complete and if they decided to have another child. They could always adopt. Baby's were cute but nothing was worth Breena's life and the doctors had told them outright that if Breena got pregnant again both her and the baby would die.

"I'm sorry I made you miss the wedding." Breena apologized.

"It's OK, Gibbs understands and Sarah McGee is recording it." Jimmy assured.

"I hope we get a healthy baby out of all of this." Breena sighed.

"We will and you will be healthy too." Jimmy assured.

* * *

 **A/N: I decided that I couldn't properly wrap this story with one more chapter. So it will be a little longer but the end is still near. I am thinking three or four more chapters. Maybe more if need be. Anyway new chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.**


	23. Shocking News

Mica and Kristen sat side by side on the worm leather couch at the Obstetrician's office. Today was the big day. Today was the day that Abby would find out the baby's gender. Mica still wanted a little brother but Kristen was hoping for another little sister. Naturally Gibbs and Abby just wanted a healthy baby. Though Gibbs was rooting for a boy he could name after Tony. While Abby would prefer another little girl.

"Why is this taking so long?" Mica whined.

"It's only been fifteen minutes." Kristen reminded.

"But the appointment is at two and it's two ten." Mica replied.

"Sometimes appointments run long." Abby commented.

"And five minutes really isn't that long." Gibbs added.

"I just want to see my little brother." Mica sighed.

"Sister" Kristen corrected.

"Brother!" Mica retorted.

"Sister!" Kristen snapped.

"Well if your girls behave we will know soon enough. If not I'm going to have to go sit with you out in the van and Abby will have to go back on her own." Gibbs warned.

"We're sorry" Mica apologized.

"Yeah sorry" Kristen agreed.

"That's better." Gibbs replied.

* * *

Erica flopped down onto her cot. It had been a grueling day of classes and military drills and she just wanted it to be over. Unfortunately it was a Monday and Monday's, Wednesday's, and Friday's were night training days. Which meant that she would have to report back to the field at nineteen hundred hours for her Physical Therapy. Which she quickly learned was a military term for training and not rehabilitation. By the time it was over she would hit the showers and be in bed at twenty-one hundred hours and still be expected to get up at oh six hundred. She hated it here. Almost as much as she hated being labeled as a delinquent. She wondered if Mica even still liked her. Her dad had come up the weekend before and told her that Gibbs was going to find out the gender of his and Abby Borin's baby that afternoon. If she hadn't of started hanging out with Lucile and them. She probably would have been invited to go along. Instead she was stuck in this glorified prison and all of her friends hated her and even worse, she deserved it. She really, truly deserved it.

"I'm sorry Mica. I never wanted to hurt anybody." Erica sobbed

"Who's Mica?" One of her bunk-mates, Lisa asked.

"My ex-best friend. The girl I hurt." Erica replied.

"Oh well maybe you should call her when you get home." Lisa offered.

"I'm not going home for a long time and I am sure that she hates me." Erica sighed.

* * *

Shane could not remember the last time he was so excited. His mom had taken Tara to something for her chorus group but he didn't have to go to the movies with Brett. Just the two of them. Of all the men his mom had dated. Brett was definitely his favorite and he was by far better than his step-dad. He just hoped that this one would last. It was probably a little soon for her to marry again but maybe in time they would get married and become a family.

"You ready to go?" Brett asked.

"Yes" Shane replied.

"Good" Brett replied.

"What movie do you want to see?" Shane asked.

"Your choice as long as it's not rated R." Brett replied.

"Can we see the Twilight Marathon at the Power Puff Lounge?" Shane asked.

"Oh yeah... Sure... Of course... If that's what you want." Brett rambled.

"Kidding! Let's go see Junior Agents." Shane laughed.

"Oh that looks good!" Brett replied.

* * *

Olivia was up in her room working on her history homework. Jimmy and Breena were at yet another doctor's appointment and Ducky was watching her. She finished her reading and her end of section questions and then made her way over to her bed. Cody was going to be napping for another half hour or so and Jimmy and Breena wouldn't be back for at least another hour. Breena's appointment always took so long. She heard noises downstairs, followed by foot-steps coming up the stairs, and then Ducky came into her room and sat beside her on the bed.

"What's going, on Ducky?" Olivia asked.

"I have some bad news I'm afraid." Ducky replied.

"What is it?" Olivia asked, bracing for the answer.

"I just got off the phone with Jimmy and I'm afraid that Breena has been admitted to the hospital." Ducky explained.

"Breena's in the hospital? Why?" Olivia asked.

"The baby's heart-rate is low and Breena's blood-pressure just spiked. They may have to deliver the baby tonight." Ducky explained.

"But it's still really early." Olivia commented.

"Yes but unfortunately if Breena's blood-pressure does not stabilize she could die." Ducky explained.

"But the baby may not survive either way. That's not fair." Olivia remarked.

"It is not but the best we can do now is pray for Breena and the baby." Ducky replied.

"OK" Olivia agreed.

* * *

It ended up being twenty minutes late but the Gibbs's were finally back with the doctor. Abby would need a few more tests after the ultrasound and Jethro would stay with her for that but the girls were going to have to sit in the waiting room. Abby was lying back on the table with her shirt pulled up and Gibbs was standing beside the table holding her hand. Mica and Kristen were sitting in the little chairs against the left wall of the room.

"You girls want to get a closer look?" Dr. Clark asked.

"Yeah of course." Kristen replied, picking up her cane and limping over to the table.

The girls stood by the table and peered that machine. Dr. Clark flipped on the machine and typed some stuff onto the keyboard. Before walking over and squirting some cold gel on Abby's stomach. The doctor moved the wand around Abby's stomach.

"How does everything look?" Abby asked.

"Great" Dr. Clark replied turning the screen slightly.

"That's a relief." Gibbs replied.

"Do you want to know the gender?" Dr. Clark asked.

"Of course" Abby replied.

"Alright... Just one minute... Oh wow." Dr. Clark murmured.

"What is it?" Abby asked.

"Is everything still OK?" Gibbs asked.

"Is it a girl? I want a sister." Kristen asked.

"No it's a boy isn't it? I want a brother." Mica replied.

"What if I told you girls that you were getting one of each?" Dr. Clark asked.

"What?!" Abby gasped.

"Congratulations you are having twins." Dr. Clark replied.

"We are? How did we just see this now?" Gibbs asked.

"Well Abby had a positive blood test at only three weeks and she had a her first scan then to make sure everything was going well. Babies are so small at that point. Whoever did your first scan must have missed the second baby." Dr. Clark explained.

"Are both babies healthy?" Gibbs asked.

"They are doing great." Dr. Clark assured.

* * *

 **A/N: How will the Gibbs's take having twins? Will Breena and her baby be OK? New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.**


	24. Excitement

The next few weeks were a blur of excitement for the Gibbs family. As they prepared for not one but two babies. One boy who would be named Tony Jackson Gibbs and one girl that had not yet been named. Jethro and Abby had decided to allow the older girls to name the baby. Kristen got to pick the first name and Mica got to pick the middle name. Unless the names sounded better switched around. Mica was a little disappointed that she would likely not get to pick the first name but thrilled to be involved in the naming process. Except for the yet to be named unborn baby girl. Mica and all her living siblings had been named for dead people. Though Mica's namesake was not dead yet when she was born. She was named for Mike Franks and her paternal grandmother Anne, who she never got to meet. Kristen was named for her mom's friend from college who died of breast cancer before she got the chance to have children. She was also named for her older half-sister Kelly. The boy baby would be named for Tony, Gibbs's beloved agent and surrogate son and Jackson for his father. Mica wanted at least part of the baby girl's name to honor somebody who had died too but she was having trouble thinking of one. She knew that Shannon, Jenny, Diane, and Ally would be inappropriate because they were all previous romances of her father. Kaitlin was a maybe but what if that was too many K names? What if people thought they were going for a Kardashian thing. Gracie was her favorite anyway. She wished that she could ask her friends but Erica was the only one who knew Gracie, and Erica wasn't around anymore. Mica felt bad that, she had to be sent off to military school. Even if Erica had shoved her on purpose. That was still a pretty extreme punishment for a stupid prank. Then again maybe the name was a decision she needed to make on her own. She did really like Gracie and Gracie was always a nice middle name. She saw headlights in the window and knew that her dad was home. She ran to the door to greet him.

"Dad! I decided on a name for the baby!" Mica cried.

"You did? What is it?" Gibbs asked.

"I want to tell everybody together." Mica replied.

"OK let's go find Kristen and Abby." Gibbs replied.

"OK!" Mica cried.

Mica walked with her dad into the living room where Kristen and Abby were sitting. She took a seat at her place at the table and Gibbs walked over and put his arms around Abby's shoulders and kissed her on the lips.

"I decided on a name for the baby girl." Mica announced.

"Middle name" Kristen reminded.

"Kristen!" Abby warned.

"Middle name" Mica clarified.

"Go ahead, Mica." Gibbs instructed.

"I really like Gracie. After my friend, Gracie." Mica replied.

"Grace has always been one of my favorite names. It was the name of the youngest sister in the Laura Ingalls Wilder, books." Abby replied.

"Whose, Gracie?" Kristen asked.

"Mica's friend, she died last year." Gibbs explained.

"Oh" Kristen replied.

"What you think, dad?" Mica asked.

"It's a lovely name." Gibbs replied.

"It is really pretty." Kristen agreed.

* * *

After dinner, Kristen took her cane and walked into her bedroom. Even though she could walk now she still took the room that had been the den. It was bigger than any of the rooms upstairs and had a big, picture window with a window seat underneath. She climbed onto the window-seat and looked outside it was almost summer and the sun was just starting to set. She remembered this time a year ago she was in a wheelchair. It was a miracle that she had regained the ability to walk but even more miraculous was that she had not developed an infection from the shrapnel that had been lodged in her spine. The doctors said that probably was the explanation for the uniqueness of her paralysis. She was really lucky to be alive and well. She was lucky that her mom had married Gibbs and she got to live in the same house as Mica. The babies were another amazing thing. A brother and a sister. Very soon she was going to have three little siblings and she could not be happier. She already knew the name she wanted to use for her little sister but unlike Mica. She had decided to wait until the day the babies were born to give her name. The name she liked was Rebecca, which went well with Gracie. So she did not have to worry about that. Rebecca would be named for Ruth's baby. Ruth was the old lady who used to babysit her before her family moved back to DC. Her daughter Rebecca was born during the Great Depression and when she got sick. Ruth could not afford to take her to the doctor. Ruth always got so sad when she talked about her. She died a few months before Kristen and her mom moved back to Washington. The only thing that made Kristen happy was knowing Ruth was with her baby again, and now her baby-sister would share her name

* * *

Erica closed her laptop and walked over to her bed. She had finished her homework and it was not going to be a late night. While going through her trunk. She found the stationary set Kayla had brought her on her last visit. Erica was not fond of writing long hand but that would be the best way to contact Mica. She walked back over to her desk, addressed an envelope to Mica and started to write the letter.

" _Dear Mica,_

 _I miss you and I am sorry for what I did. It was not supposed to hurt you. It was supposed to be a stupid prank. I knew it was wrong but I did it anyway. I hear that you are getting twins as your younger siblings. You are so lucky. I hope to see you again. I am coming home for the summer. Maybe we can meet up. I am not mean anymore and I never will be again. Hurting people is wrong and I am sorry. Please still be my friend. We have been through so much together. I cannot believe that I almost threw it all away. Have fun and enjoy life_

 _Sincerely, Erica._

* * *

Debbie was on a date with Brett. Leaving Tara in charge of Shane. He actually did not mind. Ever since their mom had started dating Brett. Tara was a lot mellower. She also didn't seem to have a new boyfriend every five minutes. She like a boy named Jack and they had been to the movies a few times but they were just friends. As for Shane he still liked Mica and he was starting to love school. Brett was teaching him some fun tricks to use on math and spelling words. He even got him special video games to help him learn history and science.

"Shane, Jack is coming over. OK?" Tara asked.

"Keep your door open." Shane reminded.

"That's what mom said." Tara replied.

"Hey I don't want to be an uncle." Shane joked.

"Shane!" Tara snapped.

"Teasing" Shane laughed.

"See that you are." Tara warned.

* * *

Olivia missed Breena. It had been almost a month since she had last seen her adoptive mother. Breena was really sick and couldn't get stressed. So she was only allowed to have immediate family visit her and you had to be over sixteen. So only Jimmy and Ed were allowed to go and see her. Olivia did get to text her sometimes but only when Breena felt up to it. Jimmy spent most of his time at the hospital with her. While Ducky cared for Olivia and Cody after school and daycare were over. Olivia was sitting on her phone, starring at the cheap flip-phone Jimmy had given her. It was only for emergencies or if Breena felt up to texting. It didn't have internet or even a camera. You could just talk and text. Suddenly the phone buzzed and the little window on the front indicated that Jimmy had sent her a text. She flipped it open and read the text.

" _Breena very sick, taking her back for emergency C-Section. Not sure what is going to happen. Will call when there is news. She knows you love her. Jimmy"_

* * *

 **A/N: What will happen to Breena and baby Palmer? New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.**


	25. Restless

It amazed Mica how quickly things could go from good to bad. Everything was so happy at dinner and immediately after. She had suggested a middle name for the baby and everybody had loved it. They had laughed and had a good time together. A rare dinner with the whole family present. Now in an instant it had all changed. Shortly after supper, Gibbs received a call from Ducky. Breena had become extremely ill and they had to deliver the baby right away. Abby was going to pick up Olivia so that Ducky could go to the hospital and be with Jimmy. Gibbs was going too and so was everybody else from NCIS. Because it was unknown if Breena and the baby would live or not. Olivia was going to be staying with the Gibbs's at least overnight. Maybe longer if the baby and/or Breena had major complications and Jimmy needed to be at the hospital all of the time. She would be staying in the spare bedroom upstairs and Gibbs had shut the door to the nursery so that Olivia wouldn't have to see all of the baby stuff "just in case". Mica knew what just in case meant. It meant, just in case the baby died. She really hoped that the baby and Breena would pull through this. Jimmy and Breena had already lost Gracie. They adopted her after her parents went to prison but she died that same day. Jimmy and Breena were devastated after that and now they were facing the loss of another child. Even worse Breena could be dying too. Mica could not imagine what it would be like if Abby and the babies were in that situation. Luckily the pregnancy had been relatively easy for Abby but she did have to see a high risk specialist and follow certain precautions due to her age and the fact that she was carrying twins but so far so good.

"Olivia is here and Gibbs just left for the hospital." Abby said coming into her room.

"How is she?" Mica asked.

"She's really scared and she just wants to be alone right now." Abby explained.

"Is there anything that I can do for her?" Mica asked.

"Just be there for her. Keep your distance now but when she is ready to talk just listen." Abby explained.

"OK" Mica agreed.

"Now, would you mind helping clean up? Kristen is going to do the dishes and you can help her." Abby asked.

"Yeah sure" Mica replied.

* * *

Kristen turned on the kitchen sink and began to wash the dishes. Mica was going to come down to help her. It was supposed to be the adults night to do the dishes but Gibbs had to go to the hospital and Abby was helping Olivia. Kristen's mind kept going back to Ruth's baby. What if Jimmy and Breena's baby died, like Rebecca did? She didn't know the Palmer's as well as Gibbs and Mica did or even her mom but she did like them all pretty well and Olivia was fun. They really deserved to be happy and have a happy healthy baby. She really didn't know what to do or say. Her mom had just told her to be respectful and keep her distance and to only bring up Breena and the baby if Olivia initiated the conversation.

"Do you need my help?" Mica asked coming downstairs.

"Yeah, you can dry." Kristen replied.

"OK" Mica replied, picking up the dish rag.

"Did mom, talk to you?" Kristen asked.

"Yeah, it's really sad about the baby isn't it?" Mica asked.

"Mom said not to bring it up." Kristen reminded.

"Only if Olivia is around." Mica corrected.

"Yeah but what if she hears us?" Kristen asked.

"She's upstairs and the sink is running." Mica commented.

"I guess so but you still have to be careful." Kristen replied.

"OK" Mica replied.

* * *

Brett was staying overnight again. He had been staying over every night for a week now. Shane wasn't quite sure what that meant but Tara said that it was a good sign. He hoped that she was right because he really wanted Brett to be his new step-dad. He missed his real father more than he could explain and he would never forget him but he also desperately wanted a father in his life. Gibbs would sometimes take him to father/son activities or do activities with him that Kristen and Mica weren't interested in but Gibbs was going to have his own son soon. Of course that didn't mean he would stop doing stuff with Shane. Brett had two kids from a previous marriage but they were already grown and living far away. Shane had met the daughter once briefly but hadn't yet met the son and likely wouldn't for a while. He only came home at Christmas time and maybe during the summer if he could get away but they both seemed really nice.

* * *

It was light's out time but Erica was not tired. Her mind was racing a mile a minute. She had written that letter to Mica and when she was done she had taken it to the mail room. Now the door was locked and all outgoing mail was going to the post office first thing in the morning. There was no turning back now the letter was on it's way to Mica. She should have waited? What if Mica was furious with her and thought the letter was another prank? What if Gibbs decided to change his mind and press charges. She should have waited and thought it over. No scratch that, she should have never written that letter, let alone send it.

* * *

Ducky had gone to the hospital and Olivia was with the Gibbs's. It had been hours and still there was no news. She was really starting to get scared. She was already terrified but this not knowing was probably the most, horribly terrifying thing she had ever endured. Breena and the baby could both die. Olivia was beginning to think that she was cursed. First her sister, than the rest of her family, and now maybe Breena and the baby. Everybody she cared about died. How long would it be before Jimmy ended up dead too? She heard the front door open and then shut. With no other sound in the house she could hear muffled voices coming from downstairs. After a while the voices stopped and she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. The door to her room opened and Gibbs came inside and sat down beside her on the bed.

"Olivia" Gibbs called.

"How are they?" Olivia asked.

"You have a baby sister Victoria Elizabeth Palmer, after Ducky's mom. She is doing a lot better than expected but still has a long way to go. She only weighs three and a half pounds. It's a lot more than the doctors expected but still really small." Gibbs explained.

"What about, Breena?" Olivia asked.

"Her blood pressure just shot through the roof and she began having seizures. She began during the delivery. She had lost a lot of blood by the time they got her uterus out. She's had two transfusions and they may have to do a third. Her blood pressure has begun to come down but it is still really high. The main concern though is her kidneys they are starting to fail. She is receiving treatment and when I left she was responding well but a transplant could be in her future." Gibbs explained.

"Oh no" Olivia sobbed.

"She is in good hands and she loves you too much to just give up." Gibbs assured.

* * *

 **A/N: Will Breena be able to survive this? New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.**


	26. Existence

The big day had arrived, Mica was finally going to get her baby brother and sister. They were coming a little early. Not scary early like Olivia's little sister. They were only coming two or three weeks early, because one of the babies was lying sideways and the other baby was upside down. Abby said that Jethro had better not ever ask for a paternity test. Because according to her. Only Gibbs babies could be that much trouble. Mica could not wait to meet her little sister and brother. She had been looking forward to being in the room when the babies were born but nobody under eighteen was allowed in the operating room unless they were giving birth or the father of the baby. Even if shew were old enough to go back. Only one person was allowed to go back with the patient and that would be her dad. He had promised Kristen and her that they would get to see the babies as soon as they were cleaned up and declared to be healthy. Kristen and Mica were sitting in the waiting room of the birth center. Abby Scuito, McGee, Bishop, and Vance were all waiting with them. Ducky was standing in the doorway waiting for the big news. Jimmy did not come because being in the maternity ward brought back painful memories of the day that Breena gave birth. The big double doors opened and somebody ushered Ducky into the hallway. The old man emerged moments later with a big grin on his face.

"The babies are here." Ducky announced.

"They are? How are they? Can I see them?" Mica asked.

"Both babies are very healthy and you may see them as soon as Abby is set up in her postpartum room." Ducky explained.

"How big are they?" Mica asked.

"I am not sure, Jethro was in a rush to get back to Abigail and the babies." Ducky explained.

* * *

It was official Kristen now had a baby brother and another baby sister. Her mom had wanted to get special monogrammed blankets and spell the babies names out on the wall of the nursery. So she could not keep the girls name a secret from everybody but her mom had promised not to tell anybody but the people who worked at the store where she was buying the blankets. Now the babies were finally here and she could finally tell the name. She followed Ducky to the room where her mom was recuperating from the C-Section. Her mom was lying on the bed, resting her eyes and the babies were sleeping in side by side cribs. Gibbs was standing over the cribs with a big smile on his face.

"Kristen, Mica come and meet your brother and sister." Gibbs called.

"Aw they are so cute!" Kristen squealed.

"Which one is which? They hardly have any hair and their diapers are covering their parts." Mica asked.

"This is baby Tony Jackson on the right and that is baby girl on the left." Gibbs explained.

"Rebecca, her name is Rebecca." Kristen said.

"Rebecca? That is a lovely name. It was actually my aunt's name." Gibbs explained.

"It is lovely. Where did you come up with it?" Abby asked.

"It was Ruth's baby's name." Kristen replied.

"Ruth?" Mica asked.

"Our old neighbor she died last year and she had a baby girl named Rebecca who died when she was three months old." Abby explained.

"I really wanted to honor Ruth and she loved Rebecca so much." Kristen explained.

"I am sure that she would be honored." Abby replied.

"She would and now I have five beautiful biological children." Gibbs replied, smiling and embracing his two eldest daughters.

"Oh yeah, how big are the babies?" Mica asked.

"Rebecca is seventeen inches six pounds, nine ounces and Tony is sixteen inches five pounds for ounces."

"They are really little. I thought they were only two and a half weeks early." Mica remarked.

"Twins are usually smaller than a single baby." Abby explained.

* * *

Erica had opted to go to camp rather than come home for the summer months. No camps lasted longer than six weeks. So she would be going to two different sessions at the same camp. Camp Lakewood it was the same place she had been going since she was old enough to attend sleep-away camp. Jared would be at the first session and Kayla at the first. It was weird to spend the entire summer away from home but it beat risking running into Mica. Mica usually came to this camp too but she was not attending this year because of the babies. Jared had told her at lunch that the babies had been born and that they were really healthy and really cute. Oh how Erica wished that she could see them.

"Hey Erica! Want to play a prank on the counselors?" One of the girls in her tent, Judy asked.

"I don't pull pranks. I prank ruined my life." Erica replied.

"You sound like an after school special but if you say so. I guess that we can just go down to the lake and play tag. It's girls vs. counselors." Judy explained.

"That sounds like fun." Erica agreed.

* * *

Shane starred out the window of Brett's car. They were supposed to be going to the hospital to meet Mica's new brother and sister but they had to make a quick stop first. He was a little annoyed by Brett's additional destination but not too upset. Because anytime he got with Brett was amazing. Especially when it was just the two of them. His last step-dad Joe never wanted to spend time with him and his dad had been gone for five years now. Brett turned off the main road and down towards where all the fancy stores were. They drove past the rich people's homes and the shops and restaurants that Shane probably couldn't even afford to look at. Then they stopped at the big fancy shopping mall. Brett drove through the parking lot until they parked in front of the jewelry store.

"Kay? Why are we at Kay? That's a girl's store." Shane asked.

"Well sometimes men go to jewelry stores when they want to ask a woman to be their bride and when they pick out the ring. They like to have a special buddy to come with them to make sure that they get just the perfect ring." Brett explained.

"You're going to ask my mom to marry you?!" Shane gasped.

"Yes I am. Son." Brett replied, smiling.

* * *

Olivia rocked her baby-sister in her arms. Victoria had spent a month and a half in the NICU before being deemed well enough to go home but she was still a little fragile. You had to wash your hands before you could hold her. Even if you hadn't been at school or anywhere that was synonymous with germs. Because she could get sick easier than a normal baby and if she got sick. She could end up having to go back into the hospital. Today Mica and Kristen's siblings had been born but Olivia could not go see them. She was too little and her dad did not like the maternity ward. It reminded him of Victoria's birth. Victoria was a beautiful baby but her birth came with tragedy. Breena had become very sick shortly before Victoria was born and only got worse after giving birth. She hovered between life and death for weeks. A month after Victoria was born. Breena's kidneys failed and she was given hours to live. Abby Scuito ended up donating one of hers just in time but Breena was still not quite back to normal yet but at least she was alive. That was all that mattered to Olivia.

* * *

 **A/N: Abby has two healthy babies and Breena is alive. There are only one or two more chapters left. Depending on inspiration and how the next chapter goes. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.**


	27. Penultimate

Mica woke to the twins jumping on her bed and screaming. She groaned and led her younger brother and sister back to their respective rooms. She made sure to lock the door when she got back to her bedroom. The last thing she needed was for those two little maniacs to get back into her room. It was the first day of summer vacation and she had no intention of waking up before ten. She had just completed the eighth grade and would be starting high school in the fall. So much had changed her life the past four years. Her family was pretty much the same but a new baby brother had evened out the family almost exactly a year after the twins were born. His named was Donald Christopher. Sadly like his siblings Donald was named for people who were no longer living. His middle name came from an NCIS agent who had passed away a couple of years before she was born and his first name came sadly from Ducky. The old Medical Examiner died as the result of his second heart attack just days after giving Abby the news that she was pregnant again. Her dad had retired from NCIS, when they learned about Abby's pregnancy. He worked at the Marine recruitment center for two years before retiring full time the previous fall. He kept himself busy by doing handyman work for his friends and neighbors. Abby was still working with CGIS but she was no longer a field agent. She had begun training new recruits after Donny was born. Kristen still walked with the aide of a cane but she was now on a special needs dance team. The twins had just turned four and they were, well wild. Rebecca liked to be called Bec and Tony preferred TJ. Bec was the larger twin a full three inches taller than her brother but what Tony lacked in size. He made up for in noise. Bec liked art and singing. While Tony preferred sports and reading. Mica herself played basketball, softball, and swam. Her friends had changed a lot too over the past few years. Olivia had cut her hair, dyed it black, dressed in black and preferred to be called Ollie. She read poetry and wrote songs about people dying from weird diseases. Shane's mom married Brett after the fifth grade and they moved an hour away but they still hung out every weekend and he was going to stay with them for a week during the summer. He grew his hair out and started playing in a band. As for Erica. Mica had not heard from her in years but she knew that she was doing well.

* * *

Kristen was up bright and early practicing her dancing. She had been with the Para Dance Crew for three years now. She still walked with a cane and likely would for the rest of her life but dancing had boosted her self-esteem and got her back in shape. They had a big summer dance tour coming up. They would be going all over Maryland and Virginia, during the month of July. She could not wait. She loved her family but it was nice to get a break every once in a while.

"Are you going to Jamie's pool party tonight?" Abby asked entering her room.

"Is Mica going?" Kristen asked.

"Yes" Abby replied.

"I guess I will go then." Kristen replied.

"OK I will drop you two off. It's on the way to the twin's soccer practice." Abby replied.

"Don't forget I have dance at two." Kristen reminded.

"I won't." Abby assured.

"We have auditions today and I am going out for the lead solo." Kristen explained.

"Good luck" Abby replied.

"Thanks, I am going to need it." Kristen replied.

"Either way you will do great." Abby assured.

* * *

Shane set his guitar down on his bed and quickly got dressed. He put on his "The Who" t-shirt and a pair of ripped jeans. Once he was ready to go. He grabbed his guitar, ran downstairs, hopped on his bike and sped down the street towards his friend Chase's house for band practice. Brett had taught him to play when he was in the fifth grade. He wanted a ten speed bike and his mom and Brett needed a guitar player for their wedding. So Brett taught him to play over the course of the year and paid him with the bike. Chase and him had formed the band last year to compete in the Junior Battle of the bands competition. They had won third prize and played two real gigs already. Tara was at college now and his mom and Brett had just celebrated their three year anniversary. The only bad part about his new life. Was that he was only able to see Mica once a week now. He missed seeing her everyday but her dad had finally let her get a smart-phone for her last birthday. So they texted and video chatted all the time. He had started a lawn mowing business and he was going to use the money he made to pay for a promise ring for Mica. Because he wanted to be with her forever.

* * *

Ollie Palmer stared at himself in the mirror. He had come out to Jimmy and Breena as trans just a few weeks ago but he had realized it just after being adopted. They were supportive. Though Jimmy was always using the wrong pronouns and embarrassing himself. Cody was supportive too, though he did get a spanking when Jimmy and Breena found out that he was watching the Kardashians. Tori was too young to really understand and kept asking why her sister dressed like a brother. They would just sit her down and explain it as calmly as possible.

"Ollie! Lunch is ready and you have Karate in an hour!" Jimmy called.

"Coming dad!" Ollie cried.

"OK, Livy! I mean, Ollie!" Jimmy called back.

* * *

Erica took a deep breath as she climbed off the bus. She was beyond nervous, because this was her first time being back in DC. Since that fateful day in the fourth grade when she shoved Mica through the ice. She had written Mica twice and Mica had responded both times but it had been two years since their last correspondence. She made a mental note to invite Mica over as soon as she could. She turned her phone on and saw that her dad had texted her. Saying that he would be a little late. Sighing she texted him back and said that she was going to the coffee shop down the street. She rested her suitcase against the empty chair at her table and sipped her iced coffee. The door opened and a girl who looked extremely familiar walked in.

"Erica? Erica Vance? Is that you?!" Mica gasped.

"Yeah" Erica sighed.

"It's been so long! How are you?" Mica asked.

"Great, I've seen pictures of Donny and the twins they are so cute. Kristen is such an amazing dancer and you always were an amazing athlete." Erica explained.

"Thanks being active really helps with my asthma. I am so glad that I am not one of those asthmatics that cannot play sports or anything." Mica explained.

"Me too. That would be the worst." Erica agreed.

"My dad isn't so overprotective since the twins and Donny came alone. He doesn't have time. The twins could wear Superman out and Donny is always getting sick or hurt." Mica explained.

"Mica about that day on the farm..." Erica started.

"Rule six, never apologize it shows weakness." Mica replied, smiling.

"I guess I am forgiven, then." Erica replied.

"Forgiven as quickly as it happened." Mica assured.

* * *

 **A/N: One more chapter to go. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.**


	28. All Grown Up

Many years had passed and Mica and the gang were adults now. Mica and Shane had been married for three years now. Getting married almost immediately after graduating college. Both attended Georgetown University and lived at home to save money. Mica ended up following her father's footsteps and becoming and NCIS agent. She had been a junior agent on the Major Case Response Team for two and a half years now. Everybody was shocked when Shane announced that he was going to become a teacher. He was going into his second year of teaching fourth grade at Lincoln Elementary. He had taught kindergarten at Christian Academy the previous year and Mica had worked in the mail room at NCIS.

Mica's family was doing well too. Jethro was still doing woodworking and had taken a job with maintenance at NCIS after Donny and the twins started school. He grew bored, so he went back to work. Abby still trained with CGIS. Becca as she liked to be called now was a sophomore and did chorus and marching band. As well as every art class available. Tony was also a sophomore and he played baseball and was on the swim team. He also played guitar in the school's folk band. Donny was in eighth grade and loved to write and make stupid videos for the internet. He wasn't as academically inclined as his siblings but he put his best foot forward and was happy.

Erica had graduated from RIMA a year early with honors. She was accepted into the Naval Academy in Chicago. Where she majored in history. She went into the Navy immediately after graduation and was currently deployed on the USS Ronald Reagan. She was briefly engaged to a man named Jim during her Sophomore year of college but broke it off after a couple of months. Realizing that she was too young to get married. The pair remained good friends and Erica even set Jim up with a girl from her platoon.

Kristen attended Cornell University where she studied law. She was currently waiting for the results of her bar exam and had already been offered a job in the legal department of NCIS. She had dated an NCIS agent by the name of Chase, whens she was in college and law school. He was nearly fifteen years her senior but they had decided to try and make it work. They got engaged not long after Mica and Shane's wedding but unlike her sister who was engaged and married all within three months. Kristen was in no rush to get married. They had only been married for seven months but their son Freddie was already ten months old and Kristen was four months along with their second child.

Olivia had begun transitioning just after high school. He changed his name to Ollie James Palmer the day he turned eighteen. He had studied veterinary science at UCLA but ended up transferring to Monroe when Breena became ill. He was working a veterinary clinic in Alexandria.

* * *

Mica studied the small white stick with a look of disappointment on her face. Shane and her had been trying to get pregnant for a year now with no luck. Shane and her had decided to get checked out a fertility clinic six months into trying but the doctor could not find anything wrong with either of them. He simply told them that sometimes it took a while but they would have a child when the time was right.

"What does it say?" Shane asked.

"It's negative" Mica sighed.

"I'm sorry." Shane apologized.

"I just thought that it would happen by now." Mica sniffed.

"Do you want to get a second opinion? One of the kindergarten teachers went to a Dr. Montclair and said he was the best of the best." Shane offered.

"Dr. Wallace is highly recommended. I mean anybody can be wrong but he ran each of our tests twice and he said nothing was wrong. I think it just isn't meant to be for us." Mica explained sadly.

"Do you want to look into adoption?" Shane asked.

"I guess but it's hard telling if anyone will ever pick us. I mean I am a federal agent. It took Jimmy years to get a child and he was just a medical examiner." Mica explained.

"Breena was an embalmer and I am just a teacher. We might have a chance." Shane commented.

"I guess." Mica replied.

"Hey Mica, did you drop this test or something?" Shane asked picking up the stick and noticing a dent on the side.

"I fumbled and it hit the sink, why?" Mica asked.

"Before or after you saw the negative result?" Shane asked.

"Before" Mica sighed.

"Well I am not sure how these things work but if this is a digital test. The fall could have damaged the workings." Shane explained.

"What are you saying?" Mica asked.

"I am saying that I think you should take a second test." Shane replied.

"Really? You think that I might be?" Mica asked nervously.

"Won't know until you take another test." Shane replied.

* * *

Following Shane's advice, Mica ran to the grocery store and bought a new pregnancy test. She wanted to use self checkout and rush home to take the test but she knew that it would not be the best idea. All the books she read and the back of the box confirmed it. She was supposed to wait to take the test first thing in the morning. The next twenty two hours were agonizing but eventually morning came and she jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom. Not wanting a repeat of the day before. She peed into a cup and stuck the stick inside. Two minutes later she pulled the stick out of the cup and held it to her face. She wanted to scream with excitement but she stopped herself. She had gotten two different results in twenty four hours. She would need a blood test to confirm it. She called in sick to work and waited until Shane left to call her doctor. Her appointment was at two and Shane usually got home around four. With any luck she would be able to greet him with the best possible news. Her appointment came and went and when she got the results it was hard not to cry.

* * *

Shane worried all day about his wife. The day before had brought yet another negative pregnancy test. For a while they had, had hope that she had just damaged the test when she dropped it. Mica had even run out and bought a new test but she needed to wait until morning to take the test. She had taken the test first thing in the morning but she hadn't told him the results. She had simply called in sick to work. He was beginning to worry for her. He knew how badly she wanted a child. He left school as soon as he could and rushed home. His students history tests could wait another day to be graded. He opened the door and Mica practically knocked him down with her hug.

"Mica? Are you OK?" Shane asked.

"I am pregnant!" Mica cried.

"We're having a baby?" Shane gasped.

"Not a baby." Mica replied smiling.

"Twins?" Shane gasped.

"Guess again." Mica replied.

"Triplets?" Shane asked.

"Yep two are identical twins and the other is separate." Mica explained.

"That is the best news ever!" Shane cried.

* * *

Erica looked out her port side window. Just three more months and she would be back on shore. She spent half the year at sea and half the year on land. As of now she had no plans to get married or have children but if that did happen. She was going to transfer to a civil job. Most likely teaching Naval history at the academy. A high pitched ding came from her laptop, she flipped it open and saw that Mica wanted to Skype with her.

"Mica?" Erica asked.

"Guess what?!" Mica cried.

"What?" Erica asked.

"I'm pregnant!" Mica cried.

"Really?! Congratulations!" Erica cried.

"It's triplets!" Mica yelled.

"Are you serious?!" Erica gasped.

"Here's the ultrasound!" Mica cried, holding the photos to the screen.

"Mica!" Erica squealed.

"Anyway I was wondering if you would like to be co- Godmother with Kristen?" Mica asked.

"Seriously?" Erica asked.

"Even after everything I have did?" Erica asked.

"That was years ago." Mica replied.

"You have no idea how much this means to me." Erica sniffed.

* * *

Across town Kristen was just as nervous as Mica but for different reasons. She had received two very important test results that day and as much as it was killing her. She was waiting for Chase to get home before opening either envelope It was nearly seven that night before Chase finally got home. Apparently his team had caught a case and he had to get back to the office but he wanted to hear the news.

"OK here it goes." Kristen said nervously opening the first envelope

"Well? What does it say?" Chase asked.

"We better get Freddie a cooties shot. Because he is getting a new baby sister!" Kristen cried.

"I knew it! One of each! Yin and yang it's perfect!" Chase cried.

"It is now to see if our kids will have a lawyer for a mom or a Target manager for a mom." Kristen said, reaching for the second envelope

"They will love you either way. Because you are a fantastic mother and if you have a family all that matters is that you love your children. Employed or not, male or female." Chase replied.

"Well I am proud to say that I am a lawyer." Kristen gasped.

"I knew it! I am so proud of you!" Chase cried.

* * *

Ollie kicked off his shoes and shuffled across the living room. Today had just been one of those days. He had to put five pets to sleep. One being the kitten of a little girl who was barely four years old. He loved his job but he hated days like this. Death had been such a painful part of his life. Of course death was in everybody's lives but his case was complex and tragic. The death of his biological family when he was just a kid. The losses of his adoptive grandfathers exactly a year apart from each other. Thinking that he had lost Cody for so long and then nearly losing Breena and Tori. Then losing Breena for real. It had been nearly two years now but it was still fresh. With the exception of her close call of Tori was born. She had always been so healthy. Then one day she got a virus. She recovered from the initial illness with in a few days and decided to go back to work. She was going down the stairs to the basement where the bodies were kept and she just collapsed. The virus had attacked and destroyed her heart. She suffered for a year before dying in Jimmy's arms. Ollie was haunted by the memories of having to tell his siblings that Breena was dead. Tori was only thirteen and Cody was seventeen. They were old enough to understand but it was still painful.

* * *

Seven months later the gang had gathered together. As scary as it was that the babies were coming early, though it was expected with triplets. Erica was ecstatic that the babies were born while she was still on leave. Kristen had to keep going out to check on her children seventeen month old Freddie and two month old Gail (named for both Kristen's mom Abigail and Chases great aunt Gail.) but she did not want to leave her sister's side. Ollie was nervous but excited. Not being able to bear children was the only part about becoming a boy that he had trouble with but after seeing Breena get so sick. He was afraid to have children. He would never have kids of his own but when he met the right woman. He would adopt. Mica and Shane's families were there as well. Debbie and Brett had five grandchildren from Tara, three from Brett's son, and four from his daughter. So this was routine for them. Though they were still bursting with excitement. Jethro and Abby had the two but this was still new and exciting. Especially after how long Mica had tried to get pregnant.

* * *

Down the hall Shane was holding Mica's hand while she pushed and cried. The doctor called that he saw the first head. Mica was instructed to push hard. It took three pushes to get her first born out. The doctor called that it was a boy and she nearly cried. Ten minutes later it was time to deliver baby number two. This one came out in only two big pushes. The last baby waited forty five minutes and five pushes before it came into the world. Three babies in all boys. Exactly what Mica had wanted but the odds of her getting that had been so slim that she was prepared for one or two maybe even three girls. The babies were cleaned off and taken to the NICU as a precaution though they seemed to be healthy. Once Mica and the triplets were all together, Shane invited the group into the room. The babies were circled around Mica's bed in little plastic cribs. Baby A was on the right side closest to the door, baby b was at the foot of the bed, and baby c was on the left side. A and B had red hair like their mother and C had blondish brown like his father. All three babies weighed exactly five pounds, just enough to keep them out of the NICU.

"Everybody meet our sons." Shane introduced.

"Baby A is Jackson Leroy, Baby B is Brett Thomas, and Baby C is Michael Andre." Mica explained.

"Jack is named for Mica's paternal grandfather and her dad, Brett is named for my step-dad and birth father, and Michael is for my biological grandfather and Mica's adoptive one, Mike Franks. Andre is because well we liked the name." Shane explained.

* * *

 **FIN**

* * *

 **A/N: What do you think? Did I wrap the series well? New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.**


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